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Original poster

Pride Month: Workplace have asked for anonymous feedback on "how can we be more inclusive?"

162 replies

Bornin1989 · 08/06/2023 14:56

I work for an SME who are big on their inclusive ethos (a good thing) but for the last couple of years have made a habit of asking staff, esp. new starters, to "State your name, role and pronouns". We are also "encouraged" to put our pronouns in our e-mail signature, to help trans and non-binary staff members feel safe and included. As part of pride month they've created an anonymous form to collect feedback on how to make the company more inclusive.

I used it as an opportunity to tell them about gender critical feminism, asked them to stop asking people's pronouns in company meetings (pronouns in e-mail signatures are non-compulsory thankfully!), told them that GC beliefs are protected in law and why GC is not transphobia. I also said I was happy to work alongside, love and respect trans and non-binary colleagues, including the use of their preferred pronouns, the same as I do with religious colleagues despite being an atheist.

I hope it will help senior staff realise that gender identity theory is an ideology that not all staff align with.

Has anyone done similar? How did it go?

OP posts:
Original poster
Bornin1989 · 08/06/2023 15:16

DuranNotSpandeau · 08/06/2023 15:05

Yes we are full on rainbow everything at my company. When they asked us for inclusivity ideas last month I said we should encourage a culture where people don't use accessible toilets for doing their poo in private or park in the disabled spaces just because there are usually ones free, make sure the lift is fixed in less than 1 working day, make all doors controllable by push button, make a ruling that all meeting requests come with an agenda so people with autism or anxiety don't panic about what prep they should be doing, and partner with schools and disabilty charities to create more opportunites for employment.

I didn't say anything about what they probably wanted me to say, but made it about what I believed EDI should be about.

Those are good suggestions! Did they respond? :)

OP posts:
MagpiePi · 08/06/2023 15:11

HadalyEve · 08/06/2023 15:08

The equivalent to asking pronouns isn’t a pop quiz on the Bible.

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How about asking everyone which football team they support?

In Scotland that used to be a shorthand for workng out who was Catholic and who was Protestant depending on whether they said Rangers or Celtic. A friend's daughter lost her job because she was the 'wrong' religion.

Original poster
Bornin1989 · 08/06/2023 15:09

@HadalyEve it's personal and reveals a lot about your character, none of which is relevant to our job. It's a forced outing of trans, non-binary or gender critical status. In front of all staff members.

OP posts:
HadalyEve · 08/06/2023 15:08

Bornin1989 · 08/06/2023 15:06

When you ask people to state their pronouns in a meeting, it puts them on the spot. In a signature, sure thing, but in front of everyone. Maybe someone is non binary but not "out" and they feel awkward too?

Would you feel comfortable being asked your favourite bible verse in a meeting that had nothing to do with religion? Just to make Christians feel more included?

The equivalent to asking pronouns isn’t a pop quiz on the Bible.

Original poster
Bornin1989 · 08/06/2023 15:06

^@HadalyEve that was for, sorry forgot to tag.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bornin1989 · 08/06/2023 15:06

When you ask people to state their pronouns in a meeting, it puts them on the spot. In a signature, sure thing, but in front of everyone. Maybe someone is non binary but not "out" and they feel awkward too?

Would you feel comfortable being asked your favourite bible verse in a meeting that had nothing to do with religion? Just to make Christians feel more included?

OP posts:
DuranNotSpandeau · 08/06/2023 15:05

Yes we are full on rainbow everything at my company. When they asked us for inclusivity ideas last month I said we should encourage a culture where people don't use accessible toilets for doing their poo in private or park in the disabled spaces just because there are usually ones free, make sure the lift is fixed in less than 1 working day, make all doors controllable by push button, make a ruling that all meeting requests come with an agenda so people with autism or anxiety don't panic about what prep they should be doing, and partner with schools and disabilty charities to create more opportunites for employment.

I didn't say anything about what they probably wanted me to say, but made it about what I believed EDI should be about.

Original poster
Bornin1989 · 08/06/2023 15:04

@MagpiePi One of our most senior staff members has a close family member who is a transman (which sparked the beginning of all the pronoun stating at the company) and we had a non-binary colleague who used they/them pronouns, which I honoured as best as I could. However, the former I know to be generally open to debate and the latter as left the company.

We have no other trans or nonbinary staff member that are openly so anyway! We have a high ratio of LGB people at the company. No affiliation to Stonewall thankfully!

OP posts:
Mrsorganmorgan · 08/06/2023 15:03

No-one can change sex!

HadalyEve · 08/06/2023 15:03

So, you asked them to be more inclusive by excluding trans and nonbinary people?
“I….asked them to stop asking people's pronouns in company meetings.”

You know with gender critical being recognised as a philosophical belief, that you can decline to share your pronouns, but that doesn’t mean you get to impose your beliefs on others and stop them asking for others pronouns?

MagpiePi · 08/06/2023 15:01

It's great that we are now able to express GC views without immediately being labelled a transphobe and being in fear of losing our jobs.

Is your company a Stonewall champion, or are they just following the trend? Are there actually many trans and non-binary people employed that you know of?

maslinpan · 08/06/2023 15:00

Brilliant. That won't be the response they were expecting!

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