Rainbow badges at work - upset

[whatishappening123]

I work in a sector with vulnerable young people. A few years ago, we made the decision as a company to wear as part of our uniform, a name tag with the rainbow on as part of pledging our support to LGBT+
We have all received new name badges and for the first time ever- an option has been provided to have a red coloured one instead of the rainbow if staff 'do not agree with LGBT+'
I have raised this with HR and union and been told that staff are now allowed to choose and that is their right.
I feel really upset by this - colleagues I have known for years are now deciding against the rainbow badge.
We work with the most vulnerable- who are often LGBT. Some of our service users have asked staff directly why they are not using them- and they have lied saying " They'd run out , or the pin on the rainbow ones are crap, some staff are hiding the red ones.
It's not a majority by any means - it's probably about 11 staff in a staff of 60.
I just feel really really upset by it, but I can't quite put my finger on why.
I also don't understand how people can be 'against' LGBT
It's a protected characteristic.

You are suggesting you would interrogate someone for choosing not to wear a rainbow badge. That is harassment.

Also, there are plenty of LGB people (part of the sexual orientation pc) who “openly disagree” with the idea of “LGBT”. Gender identity ideology denies that gay men or lesbian women can be exclusively same sex attracted and seeks to exclude them from their former community. Are you familiar with LGB Alliance @SunsetSwimming?

So if the only two options available are rainbow badge or red badge, what option does the person who isn't opposed to anything except being forced to state their political positions at work go for?

It wouldn’t be though, would it. You can’t bully your colleagues into agreeing with your ideology. See Forstater and Higgs.

It's time to stop the nonsense of 'support' badges/lanyards/flags/posters etc etc in any workplace, they're unnecessary, political and divisive. A simple name badge is enough.

It absolutely is not a badge to symbolise that they don’t agree with ‘the gays’. That’s over dramatic.

its just personal choice wether they want to display the rainbow badge or not.

im not particularly hot on the ‘t’ side of things like many others are so probably would resent being made to wear one. I’d probably opt for red and would hate that, that meant people were making assumptions about my beliefs. Literally no one needs to know about my views on gender politics in the work place. They should always just have been plain badges and then this wouldn’t have been an issue.

If she worked with Jewish young people, should be required to wear a Star of David to show her support? Or multiple other examples.

LGBT is not one monolith. There are young lesbians who have huge issues with the forced partnership with T as prioritising gender undermines the acceptance of same sex attraction. Lesbian dating apps these days have found it difficult to keep men out. How do you think that makes those vulnerable young women feel?

Everyone needs to just do their job, respectfully. No need for performative support signalling. Be supportive with actions, not a cheap rainbow badge.

The point is that “LGBT” is problematic and not a protected characteristic.

Not everyone is supportive of LGBT+ communities, it’s not nice but it’s also a fact.

Forcing everyone to wear a rainbow increases the risk for LGBT+ service users because they can’t identify who is truly supportive and who isn’t so might disclose to people who will be unsupportive or actively hostile.

So @whatishappening123, has the arguing on this thread convinced you that it's probably better if we all refrain from displaying visible political symbols at work yet?

I took OP at their word 🤷‍♀️

But bundling LGBT together is stupid. And yes I know it’s everywhere but it’s still stupid. What do LGB people who don’t want to be lumped together with the T do? Or people who want to express support for LGB rights but don’t support gender ideology?

Indeed. Can always tell the ones who got their law degrees from the University of Tiktok.

“LGBT+ communities” aren’t supportive of people who are only attracted to their own biological sex. Literal homophobia.

🤣 quite

@whatishappening123

Neutrality is key in a shared environment like the workplace.

Neutrality is different from forcing people to wear a badge that may or not align with their personal beliefs.

I am entitled IN MY WORK PLACE to not engage or represent things that I don’t believe in or things that are against my personal views or things that I need to research a bit more in order to educate myself.

I am at work. I am there to work.

The rainbow ones were a terrible idea.

Actually, I’m not sure. Can I think on that and come back to you 😊

Dave is still legally a bloke and can not use the protected characteristic to claim he is a woman.

It is not discrimination to call a duck a duck, so why is it discrimination to call a male, a male?

I treat everyone equally. This also means I shouldnt be a victim of sex discrimination because a male is wanting access to female only things.

It just means I can't shout abuse at Dave. But Dave remains male. And he doesn't necessarily have legal protections if he can no demonstrate he is going through transition. Changing your pronouns isn't transitioning.

@rrrrrreatt forcing ANYONE to wear a badge at work is not nice.

I am Asexual. I think people who want to have consensual relationships with whoever they like should do so. I would absolutely decline the rainbow badge.

OP can you clarify if the red badge option is if you are against LGBT or if it's for people who don't wish to display their personal beliefs to all n sundry.

Honestly I think we've gone way too far down the road of telling people what they should believe and effectively trying to cancel them when they don't happen to believe what someone wants them to.

People do their job irrespective of their political views or views on LBGT+, their religion, or anything else. It is no-one's place to look down on someone because they wish to keep some of their thoughts or beliefs private. That's all that's happening here - not that they think there is anything wrong with LBGT, just that they don't think it's anyone's business what they think of it. And that is their right.

Well this is the issue, isn't it?

The OP has interpreted the red badge to be the "anti LGBT" option.

Perhaps that is how her employer had intended it as well. Red is a rather suspicious choice of colour. A bit too Hester Prynn for my liking.

The problem is that if you mandate that everyone displays a particular symbol to indicate that they support a particular cause, the gesture becomes entirely meaningless because people will be displaying that symbol whether they support the cause or not.

And if you give people a choice between displaying a particular symbol to indicate that they support a particular cause, or displaying a different symbol, inferences will be drawn from the fact that they have chosen not to display the symbol to indicate that they support the cause, and they will probably be presumed to be anti.

Perhaps we need to make a universal symbol for "my views and beliefs are none of anyone's fucking business, now let me get on with my job in full compliance with the Equality Act" and then we can get bloody badges and lanyards with that on it.

you’re interpreting this the wrong way - they cannot discriminate against you because of your sexual orientation. it doesn’t mean it doesn’t count as discrimination if you identify as LGBT etc

Here’s Barbie. Barbie is a “vulnerable service user” who “may present to a homeless hostel”. He’s a woman according to Irish law. He’s a danger to women and girls and has ripped women’s eyelids off. Do you think any young vulnerable female service user should be happy sharing space with him? Do you understand that they and women who support other women and girls who are victims of male violence (or who just aren’t thoughtless virtue signallers who parrot TWAW as an ideological mantra) might therefore be unwilling to wear a rainbow badge, given that that is what many rainbow badge people think?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5420053-barbie-kardashian-is-being-released?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share