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.

They don’t have any “rights” to be treated as women. They have rights not to be discriminated against or harassed on the grounds of being a transsexual.

What about all the straight men (and women) who sexually abuse children?

Making out that LGBTQ people are more of a danger somehow is horrific.

Do straight men have a badge that children are told means they are safe? If so what is it?

A PP (sorry I can't find the post) made an interesting point about whether all these rainbow lanyard wearers will still be signalling their allyship once being an LGBTQ+ ally is no longer the fashionable thing. (Things are already heading in that direction.)

Which made me think of another point.

If you're a young, vulnerable gay or trans person and seeing people wearing rainbow lanyards in their workplace genuinely does make you feel safer and more included, how are you going to feel in a few years' time when rainbow lanyards are no longer the latest DEI initiative du jour and big corporations are no longer rainbowing their logos for the whole of pride month every year? Are you going to feel unsafe and excluded? Are you going to feel like these people all hate you now, when the reality is just that most of them never thought that deeply about it in the first place and they've just moved on to the next thing?

Yeah, red is my favourite colour, I would have switched immediately.

Like a number of other posters I have zero interest in people's sexual preferences and don't believe I need to announce that to all and sundry. I am unavailable to make mass political statements eg pronouns, support thus group, support that group. No. I go to work to do my job and should be able to do that without being required to make political statements.

This interpretation of the Equality Act single sex exceptions that I’m quoting is completely outdated. “Trans women” are men, unequivocally in Equality law, as laid out in FWS v Scottish Ministers. That’s the only proportional and legitimate test needed, that there is a need for a single sex space in the first place

I would like to know this too. Mainly so I can teach my children to scream and run away if they see someone wearing it.

This is the problem with mandating that people demonstrate their support for a cause - some people think you are actively against the cause just because you don't want to wear the symbol. Best if the name badges just show people's names.

The majority of life is not single sex. My next door neighbours are a trans woman and a trans man. They are both absolutely lovely people. The way they lead their lives has absolutely no impact on me.

The trans man went to a local all girls school and transitioned while he was a pupil there. The school arranged for him to have a separate changing area for PE.

i used to be a lifeguard - we allowed trans customers to use the disabled changing rooms. It is not rocket science to make everyone feel comfortable.

if my neighbour is anything to go by, trans people are generally very sensitive to the fact that some people disapprove of them and they don’t want a scene. My neighbour said he was worried about upsetting the Muslim girls in his school so was very keen to change for PE away from the girls.

incidentally, my neighbour also commented that he did not have any kind of negative reaction from any of the pupils but some
of the teachers made his life very hard.

I hadn't considered that, but I would hope everyone who chooses to work with kids is ready for ANY conversation.

A huge part of teaching for me was letting every kid know I cared, was there and would listen.

"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+'"

The OP indicates that there is a binary choice, rainbow or red. There is no suggestion that a third type of badge is available, or that staff can choose not to wear a name badge at all.

The red clearly isn’t anti lgbt, it’s just giving people the freedom to pick. All these things are a joke anyway, they don’t mean anything.

I think this issue started with choosing a rainbow badge in the first place. Its not necessary. I work in an organisation that is completely inclusive but we would never do this for the very reasons your red badge option has highlighted.

i used to be a lifeguard - we allowed trans customers to use the disabled changing rooms. It is not rocket science to make everyone feel comfortable.

Except for disabled people?

Can you link to where ‘LGBT’ and ‘T’ are mentioned in the list of protected characteristics Equality Act please?

Read the Equality Act 2010. Sexuality and gender reassignment are protected characteristics and they remain so after the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman

They sound like lovely people who are just trying to live their lives in peace and not bothering anyone else.

Nobody has suggested anything to the contrary.

Sexual orientation, which covers LGBT IS protected characteristic under UK law

Sexual orientation doesn’t ‘cover’ T.

Gender reassignment does though

Or let people support marginalised groups however they wish. The rainbow is an important symbol of pride which is why it’s worn. It ties in with being “out” and being seen which is why some people choose to wear it. Of course, no one has to and no one should be made to. It should be a choice but it can’t be if there’s no opportunity to wear it

Yes, but that is a separate PC. As is sex.

OP you’re right but this is forum is the worst place to bring this issue.

You keep pushing your incorrect interpretation and I’m just going to keep pointing out why you’re wrong. There is no “LGBT” cohesive protected characteristic. There are significant points of conflict due to sexual orientation being based on bio sex and some LGB people object to the grouping with trans identities. Many “trans” people are not undergoing a process to change “aspects of sex” so they do not meet the definition of gender reassignment. The word for a person with the PC of gender reassignment is a transsexual. “Non binary” identity is not recognised in the law.