Use pronouns or face dismissal

So if someone asks to be referred to as other than their sex and you feel uncomfortable and use ‘they’ as a compromise - you could get fired?

Namechanged as a bit of a lurker but have seen the consequences of being outed. I recently joined NI Civil Service, that is independent of the Civil Service in the rest of the UK and there are indeed about 23,000 civil servants.

I've only joined in the last few months and so still in probation so afraid to ask too many questions. I haven't read it since first joining but the guidance is very much of you make a mistake and apologise and move on. But consistently using the wrong name/ pronouns may result in disciplinary action. It also states that the person transitioning may use the facilities with their new gender. It did reference stonewall so I think that is where it has come from. But the law is different here, the GRA applies but the equality act 2010 does not. There is a NI specific piece of legislation from 1976 which covers equality and I'm still trying to figure out if the sex based exemptions apply.

So in short I think the same thing as has been seen in other government guidance has happened in that an over reliance on an external organisations has happened.

I am prepared to avoid using pronouns. I will not describe a male as a woman.

I have a daughter with a learning disability and virtually every person we encounter, including other kids, are kind and accepting towards her - and yet this supposedly professional adult behaved like this.

The belief in kindness as a value never seems to be reciprocal where TRA ideology is involved.

Deliberately requiring me to lie is bullying. Where does this ludicrous escalation of language get us ? Shall I lie on the floor and scream and scream until you get fired for bullying me?

and secondly he showed complete insensitivity (cruelty even) towards a boy with a hidden disability.

I think it's fair to say that even people with the vaguest knowledge of Autism/Asperger's knows it can sometimes make the person very blunt. Matter of fact. Through no fault of their own.

Even if the PCSO didn't immediately know Declan had Asperger's, they would have found out at some point and still pressed ahead with making an example of him.

Deliberately mis-gendering someone is bullying. Glad they are taking a stand 😊

I will use people’s names as that is their name and that is fine, but pronouns is compelled speech and compelled thought. If he is a her - of course all those who are ‘her’ should have the right to be the women’s rep, to access the women’s facilities, to have their 33% higher in salary to be registered as female and mask the gender pay gap etc.

Also - you can’t unlearn a lifetime of usage of the English language.

That guy isn’t fit to be a police officer. Firstly, how could someone that bloody fragile possibly cope with the job, and secondly he showed complete insensitivity (cruelty even) towards a boy with a hidden disability. And yet he’s made himself out to be the victim. I have a daughter with a learning disability and virtually every person we encounter, including other kids, are kind and accepting towards her - and yet this supposedly professional adult behaved like this. 😡

*I say got me off the fence, I wasn't fully aware of everything going on beforehand, but this case got me digging and turned me GC.

It’s not bullying not to collude with someone’s demands which are in conflict with biology and fact.

I don't know, but this case with the autistic teen doesn't bode well.

This was what finally got me off the fence. That poor lad having his face put out there for all to see and being branded hateful :(

Further down in the article states :

When it comes to toilets and changing rooms, the new rules suggest the creation of “gender neutral” facilities – but “whether this is possible or not, trans people should be able to use the facilities allocated to their affirmed gender”.

This leaves open the possibility of biological men using ladies’ facilities (or vice versa).

That news story is bizarre.

I'd imagine the police get all sorts of stuff yelled at them in the course of their work. I'm a bit surprised this has left the office unwilling to patrol alone.

They always come in pairs around here come to think of it, the once a year or so you actually see them on foot.

Thanks for sharing that article, @Kit19. I hadn't thought of the issue in these terms before.

Yay, equal opportunities. So surely, the new rule applies to all employees regardless of orientation? So everybody should be invited to designate a preferred office pronoun, and serves them right if every woman chooses he/ him and every man chooses she/her. Or for those who can't quite make up their minds, alternate pronouns on alternate days....

It’s so much more than a case of being nice....

fairplayforwomen.com/pronouns/

This terrifies me. How would they enforce this with someone like me? I'm autistic, I cannot lie. I literally cannot lie. If someone asks me a question that requires a little lie, eg do you like my new dress, I have to put my hands over my mouth to stop the truth coming out, and then I have a panic attack.