Logan Popp was asked if he was going to heaven after he stopped in to pick up a prescription.
Logan Popp was asked if he was going to heaven after he stopped in to pick up a prescription.
An Auckland pharmacy has apologised after a staff member asked a trans customer who was picking up a prescription whether he believed he would go to heaven.
Logan Popp, a trans man, said he was speaking out to warn others in the rainbow community about the staff member’s words - which he said “could be a matter of life and death”.
Popp said he was a regular at Unichem Torbay, where he had always been welcomed and treated with respect before an incident on Friday left him feeling uncomfortable to return.
Popp, who had a mastectomy in December, said a store assistant asked him if he was happy with his chest - a question he initially believed was a genuine medical inquiry.
He said he had never discussed his surgery with this staff member but replied that he was happy with the surgery. But then the conversation took another turn.
”The next question was, ‘Well, where do you think you’re gonna go when you die? Are you gonna go to heaven or ... ?’
“And that’s kind of how she left the question open,” Popp said.
He then told the staff member he believed he was going to heaven and had been raised a Catholic, before the assistant asked: “Do you pray to Mother Mary?”
He didn’t want to cause a scene with staff he considered “family”, but called the manager immediately after leaving the store to complain.
Popp, originally from the United States, said Aotearoa was a “safe haven” and he felt he had to say something to protect others in the rainbow community, warning that the assistant’s questions could have deadly consequences.
”This could be a matter of life and death for somebody,” Popp said, referring to how many in his community struggle with their mental health.
”Our community really struggles with depression and suicide and I’m not trying to really spin this case, but I know how serious what she said to me was today and how it really hurts.
”She didn’t necessarily say it, but the questions that she asked and the way that it followed the conversation, I mean, you can put together two and two and take from that conversation that she was basically saying, ‘Hey, I know that you’re trans and you’re gonna go to hell’.
”It’s a huge violation and a huge no-go.”
Logan Popp said he was speaking out to warn others.
He told the Herald the pharmacy had apologised and he was happy with its response, but worried that others would have to deal with the same staff member in the future.
”I just want to make it clear for my other trans or LGBT members to avoid her because she’s there,” he said.
”I’m very uncomfortable now to go there if she’s working, you know, so I would never want this to happen to somebody else.
”There’s got to be professionalism, especially when it comes to health care, there shouldn’t be this problem. I should feel safe.”
Martin Harris from Torbay Unichem told the Herald he was “extremely disappointed” by his staff member’s actions and said he was taking the issue seriously, but could not comment on specifics.
He said the culture of the pharmacy was that they treat everyone with dignity and respect and admitted that the staff member’s actions had let Popp down.
”The crux of the matter is that we let Logan down and we acknowledge that and we’re trying to work hard to resolve that to a level that will be satisfactory to him and give some confidence to the rest of the community that he’s part of that they will be safe at Torbay Unichem Pharmacy,” he told the Herald.
