The Rainbow Badge scheme is Stonewall Law by the back door, without proper scrutiny. It gets no evaluation, and ends with unlawful and discriminatory policy recommendations, which include removing sex based language and encouraging men breast feeding. The feedback is given to an NHS trust in a meeting with a senior exec and gets adopted without critical thinking.
Staff are asked to sign up to a pledge. They think they are being kind. They do not understand the impact.
Here's how one trust describes it:
"Our teammates who wear a pride badge or lanyard have pledged that:
- you can talk to me freely about difficulties you are facing and I will do my very best to find support for you
- our organisation is a place of inclusion where we respect and celebrate LGBTQI+ patients and staff
- I will challenge discrimination towards LGBTQI+ people in our organisation."
Rainbow badges also use survey results (small numbers of self selected staff) to make assertions about discrimination etc. It's rotten.
Another woman and I separately FOId most Engllish trusts on Rainbow Badges, and got the recommendation reports for many trusts on www.whatdotheyknow.com We weren't coordinating so may have missed some trusts. So you may find Rainbow Badge requests for your local trusts or the trusts you are analysing now. If you want any trusts we missed FOId on this, DM me.
Raibow Badges was funded by NHS England, and promoted strongly by Stonewall, the LGBT Foundation, NHS funders and Dr Michael Brady, National Advisor for LGBT Health, NHS England and NHS Improvement. Brady said in 2021:
‘The NHS Rainbow Badge has been one of the most successful and widespread initiatives in raising LGBT awareness across the NHS. The badges have received an enormous amount of interest, including participation from over 90% of NHS trusts within just 18 months of the project launching. This is largely thanks to the visionary work of Dr Mike Farquhar and colleagues at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. I am delighted that we’re able to build on this success by investing in Phase 2 of the project, to support delivery of wider objectives to improve the care and reduce inequalities for LGBT patients, as well as improving experience for LGBT staff. I am really pleased that this new partnership between the LGBT Foundation, Stonewall, LGBT Consortium, Brighton & Hove LGBT Switchboard and GLADD, all of whom have many years’ experience in this field, are taking this work forward.’
Some trusts are introducing similar badge schemes on race. DM me if you want info on this. This is the hierachy of the alphabetti and race over the disabled, the old, people with religious beliefs and women etc, encouraged by senior NHS leaders and funders.
The Rainbow Badges scheme is being extended into GP & dental practices,pharmacists & optometrists via Pride in Practice. It's backed and peomoted by some local authroties and integrated care boards (ICBs - successors to the clinical commissioning groups which fund care via GP practices in England).
ICBs are also funding work by LGBTQIA+ charities without safeguarding and contrary to Cass.
sources:
https://archive.ph/woRz9
https://archive.ph/8EQsm
https://archive.ph/tj3Wp