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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Sex Equality and Equity Network - Gender crit network for civil servants.

558 replies

fromorbit · 10/11/2022 10:06

Important new initiative for government workers. This is where a huge fight back is going to happen in behind the scenes government, in memos and meetings. If we don't win in the civil service, it doesn't matter how many demos or cases we win, how many twitter threads we write, sooner or later sex differences will be erased. If you work in government/public sector get involved asp.

seen-network.uk/

"We are happy to announce the launch of our new UK cross-government staff network, the Sex Equality and Equity Network.
SEEN is a staff network committed to promoting and supporting sex equality and equity between women and men in our workplaces, and helping all staff to thrive at work and fulfil their potential. The focus of our network is on challenging sex discrimination and upholding rights and protections that relate to sex (including the protections provided to those with the protected characteristics of sex, pregnancy and maternity and sexual orientation, as set out in the Equality Act 2010). We recognise that to achieve this and ensure sex equality and equity sometimes requires treating women and men differently, according to our different rights and needs.

We are also committed to the protected belief (covered by the protected characteristic of religion and belief in the Equality Act 2010) that biological sex is binary and immutable, that biological sex matters for both women and men in our everyday lives, including for our rights and needs in the workplace, and that biological sex must not be conflated with, or replaced by, the concepts of gender or gender identity."

OP posts:
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ThatWasThat · 10/11/2022 21:48

I was on a call today where it was clear that people are confused about the terms sex and gender. If we get that cleared up, I think will help a lot

FemaleAndLearning · 10/11/2022 21:37

It's going to take a lot of pain to get this out in the open and the myths busted but it has to be done.

Tallisker · 10/11/2022 21:26

There was a yammer thread about this in my workplace howling down the new network and expressing disgust that it had been allowed. The vitriol was really frightening.

One person challenged the hyperbole and got some pretty nasty responses.

Maya was mentioned having lost her case for being a transphobe, ignoring the appeal result, and there were lots of comments about how offensive it is to say sex is binary and immutable because the science has been saying for ages this isn't true and it erases the existence of trans people.

I really did feel 'unsafe' if people knew my views. There were nearly 100 comments and only one was gender critical.

FemaleAndLearning · 10/11/2022 21:01

I'm arm's length civil servant and it accepted my work email via my phone then I checked I got an email on my work laptop. This is such good news. Thank you to those people behind the scenes. Would be amazing if it was listed on the staff networks!

FigRollsAlly · 10/11/2022 19:43

This should make an amazing difference, well done to those who worked hard to make it happen! Just waiting for the usual accusations of ‘hate speech’ etc to arrive.

jellydaydream · 10/11/2022 19:31

Well done. I'm joining.

LK1972 · 10/11/2022 19:18

LK1972 · 10/11/2022 15:54

Blocked in DEFRA too and I'm too much of a coward to email our IT, but sent the network a message from home email to let them know.

Correction, had to use the government email login, but did it from home laptop - it doesn't accept non-gov email addresses, which is fair I guess

KatMcBundleFace · 10/11/2022 16:31

I so wish there was a local government version 😭

LK1972 · 10/11/2022 15:54

Blocked in DEFRA too and I'm too much of a coward to email our IT, but sent the network a message from home email to let them know.

Athenajm80 · 10/11/2022 14:49

Glad to see lots of you joining. The site is blocked with my employer too, but I will speak to IT tomorrow and try to get that changed.

Slothtoes · 10/11/2022 14:43

x-post with ResistorRex

Slothtoes · 10/11/2022 14:42

There’s a public searchable list of the CS networks if you Google and it doesn’t appear on there yet- doesn’t seem to have been updated since 2020.

Justsurfing · 10/11/2022 14:41

This looks great, I work for the NHS will I be able to sign up?

ResisterRex · 10/11/2022 14:40

No idea if this is the most recent list but maybe it should be added here?

www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-staff-networks/civil-service-networks

emsyj37 · 10/11/2022 14:38

Princessglittery · 10/11/2022 14:16

Well done. As a retired CS really glad to see that this is supported by Cabinet Office, I know how much time and effort will have gone in to achieving that.

If you can make sure Departmental D & I leads, HR Director and Board Member with responsibility for D & I are made aware.

D&I leads have been informed, and HR departments. It has been a soft launch but imagine there will be a plan for publicity - I'm looking forward to the Network taking off.

Jamazon1 · 10/11/2022 14:33

It’s a staff network like the others (that relate to equality characteristics) so should run as long as those.

TheseCowsAreSmall · 10/11/2022 14:22

Signed up!

Princessglittery · 10/11/2022 14:16

Well done. As a retired CS really glad to see that this is supported by Cabinet Office, I know how much time and effort will have gone in to achieving that.

If you can make sure Departmental D & I leads, HR Director and Board Member with responsibility for D & I are made aware.

emsyj37 · 10/11/2022 14:07

I'm pursuing getting the site unblocked for HMRC staff, it is blocked because it's new. HR are looking at it. Other departments have managed to get it unblocked easily.

fromorbit · 10/11/2022 13:43

Looks like we have about 8+ people aiming to join so far just as a result of this thread. I think it will be very very popular once word spreads properly.

Should be well established before next General election which will be crucial as well.

Hope there will be Scottish, Welsh, NI branches.

OP posts:
TheseCowsAreSmall · 10/11/2022 13:41

Athenajm80 · 10/11/2022 12:47

I'm a member, it's a great idea. To the pp who said about devolved government, I think if you have a gov.wales or gov.uk email then you're ok to join.

Thanks! Much appreciated

GiveMyHeadPeaceffs · 10/11/2022 13:35

I'm NI civil service so I'm hoping we can join too!

ZandathePanda · 10/11/2022 13:35

Thank you to everyone who set this up and everyone joining.

ickky · 10/11/2022 13:32

blockedonoursystems · 10/11/2022 13:18

Just tried to access via my work laptop and the website is blocked on our systems 🤬

seen-network.uk/contact/

Send them a message via another email to let them know who has blocked their website.

PauliesWalnuts · 10/11/2022 13:32

It’s open to Arms Length Bodies (my employer) too - brilliant.