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Original poster

The RCVS has renewed its Stonewall contract

38 replies

TheCurrywurstPrion · 08/04/2022 18:33

Sadly, despite the efforts of myself and a few other vets, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has renewed its contract with Stonewall until March 2023.

This is particularly galling as I had paid my fees for the next year only a day or two earlier. I have a choice, but vets working within the profession or in related work in the UK have no choice, but to be members, which costs £364.

So far those I’ve been in contact with, who got in touch with the RCVS, have received no reply whatsoever from the Royal College. They haven’t sent so much as an acknowledgment that we wrote.

There were a few others I spoke to here a few weeks back. If anyone here contacted the RCVS about this, I would be interested to hear.

Trying to work out now what steps to take now. Feel free to contact me in a private message if you don’t want to do so on the thread.

OP posts:
ChubbyNinja · 08/04/2022 22:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DomesticatedZombie · 08/04/2022 22:15

I am entertaining myself thinking of ways vet surgeries could win extra Stonewall points ...

Sorry, OP, that sounds like a difficult situation. Could you join forces with Hortensia and/or others and write a joint letter?

Hortensiateapot · 08/04/2022 22:07

I am a member of the profession. I wanted to write to them but didn’t feel confident enough in my facts and arguments. Also I do understand their rationale for wanting to support an organisation which on the surface represents LGBT people - especially as the profession is aiming to open up in diversity along many axes (including race and class also).

My view is that the RCVS is like a massive old tortoise which is always behind on the times. I don’t imagine they will have thought beyond getting a stonewall star as a tick in a diversity box. Also, I don’t feel stonewall policy affects our patients/service users in the same way as medics and generally practices are smaller so staff changing areas/toilets are rarely shared in the same way. It is galling that they receive even a portion of our retention fee though- knowing what we know.

I wonder maybe I should send that letter after all, but please don’t give up on a profession you love. I predict the house of cards will fall at some point and some people will be left looking shamefaced and naive.

EdithStourton · 08/04/2022 20:47

But the real question is, how can vets, who understand fully about sex, be caught up in the ludicrous fiction that men are women
That's what I thought when I saw the thread title - I wondered if there was some other RCVS that I didn't know about.

Charley50 · 08/04/2022 20:43

@TheCurrywurstPrion - I understand, and know how you feel. My workplace has literally just joined Stonewall. I've complained about it, got them to rethink it, and am really hoping to persuade them it's a bad idea. How any medical and science-based bodies joined them just baffles me.

Clymene · 08/04/2022 20:26

Bloody hell. Of all professions, veterinary science is one where I'd imagine sex of your clients is a massive part of the job. Spaying, gelding, castration, sexing animals, insemination of livestock.

It's hard to think of reasons they need advice from stonewall

tedgran · 08/04/2022 20:19

My DH is a retired vet, he's not happy about this.

Cuck00soup · 08/04/2022 20:16

Of all the groups who should know better...

Original poster
TheCurrywurstPrion · 08/04/2022 19:50

@Charley50

Can you ask for a refund, and say why? 14 day cooling off period etc.
I’m a bit reluctant as it could be difficult returning, should I leave.

“If you have been off the RCVS Register for more than 12 months, you may need to arrange for a letter of good standing from your current registration authority to be sent directly to the RCVS. If you have not been practising, you will be required to make a sworn declaration, carried out by a solicitor.”

Also, I’ve been a member for so many years, that it would be quite sad. I was thinking last night about what it means to be able to sign MRCVS after my name. I’m quite attached to it and can still remember a James Herriot story where he made a speech in embarrassing circumstances, which started with the words “What do the letters MRCVS mean to you?” or something similar.

Silly probably, as the RCVS has changed really beyond all recognition. They don’t so much protect vets, as protect the public from vets, or at least that’s how it feels. So I guess I’m clinging to something that no longer really represents me, other than that I have a veterinary degree from the UK.

But the real question is, how can vets, who understand fully about sex, be caught up in the ludicrous fiction that men are women. And why, when others are seeing the light, are they clinging so pathetically onto a lobby group that gives false representation of UK law.

OP posts:
Charley50 · 08/04/2022 19:24

Can you ask for a refund, and say why? 14 day cooling off period etc.

AlternativelyWired · 08/04/2022 19:24

My Dd wants to be a vet and she's not impressed with this. I'm wondering what stonewall and vets have in common although I'm sure what stonewall do exactly so that might be the issue there.

Original poster
TheCurrywurstPrion · 08/04/2022 18:56

I think it’s guaranteed they won’t respond. I only learned the contract had been renewed through a third party.

Presumably only a tiny percentage of the fee goes to Stonewall, but it’s frustrating to be forced to contribute to a group who are actively campaigning to remove women’s rights.

OP posts:
thinkingaboutLangCleg · 08/04/2022 18:51

Well done for trying, Curry. Maybe ask them how much Stonewall is paid and what they are providing for your £364?

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