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.

Good for them. I wouldn’t be wearing the rainbow either. Why should anyone be required to advertise their personal beliefs by way of a lanyard?

Perhaps they just dislike performative virtue signaling and have no interest in buying into displays of it. Perhaps while they may support the LGB, they don’t subscribe to the gender BS. Or maybe they do just personally disagree with the Pride movement entirely. Regardless, that’s their personal business.

I hope you feel the same about people who wear ‘gender critical’ badges too. I am sure you wouldn’t wish to discriminate on the basis of belief.

No it isn't. LGBT stands for Lesbian Gay Bisexual.and Trans.

The relevant protected characteristics are sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

You cannot lump the two protected characteristics together as there are conflicts between sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

I agree. I mostly work from home but on the rare occasion that I do have to go into the office I have an ID badge that I have to take with me. It has my name, my picture, and the name of the department where I work. The lack of a rainbow on my badge has never prevented me from providing services to anyone who came to me for assistance.

I wouldn’t wear it. Very happy to support LGBQ but all the other letters that have crept in are often a load of bollocks and can represent a smokescreen for other stuff so they can stick their expanded rainbow where the sun don’t shine for my badge.

I wonder if they're lying about why they're wearing a red badge because they dont want to have this conversation with you OP? Instead they just want to come to work and do their job?

The problem is bringing politics to work

There shouldn't be rainbow or red badges in the work place.

Activism belongs in your freetime.

On this thread the punishment is that the young LGB (leaving out the T) know - or assume - that they are not supported by those wearing red badges.

What about the young girls who are fearful of the anti-women rhetoric pushed by gender ideologists?

I am sure it doesn’t deny that gay men and lesbians exist.

Sounds pathetic to be honest, grown adults squabbling over silly little rainbow badges. Its bloody awful that the youth of today are being brainwashed into thinking that their wellbeing and sense of self rests on whether or not random people pin meaningless junk on their clothes to signal 'support' or some such rubbish.
What utter tosh. This truly is just childish drivel.

Does it actually say “do not believe in?” Because apart from anything else, that makes no sense.

There should never have been rainbow badges in the first place. That’s a really big mistake on the part of the management. They should have just had neutral badges for everyone. It’s just stirring up discord unnecessarily and forcing people who may not have had strong feelings on the subject at all to pick a side and publicly declare it. I bet there was no issue at all before the rainbow badges were introduced.

Explain how lesbians exist if you support males identifying as lesbians?

This is exactly why this nonsense virtue signalling has no place in a work environment. I could care less about anyone’s preference in the bedroom. It’s really the least interesting thing I can think of. Yes gay people were oppressed years and years ago as were many, many other groups. It was terrible but it in no way reflects the present. Gay, bi? Great, you do you but I don’t suddenly find you special or more interesting.

The OP demonstrates virtue signalling perfectly.
Wears a pretty rainbow badge and somehow sees some great virtue in her actions whilst not having the faintest clue about all the different viewpoints about this symbol or even having a basic understanding of the equality act.

Christ, someone really didn't think this one through did they?

Q? I would read up a bit more on queer theories and all the major queer theorists, especially there attitude to paedophilia. Queer is about breaking down norms and that includes age norms for sex. Whether people realise that is what they are signing up to is irrelevant, that is what it is.

I’m a firm LGB supporter and campaigner for 40 years so probably before all these virtue signallers like OP were even born. I am not a supporter of the T and resent them being bundled together I would not wear a rainbow badge and would defend anyone else’s right not to wear one either. What progress have we made that we all have to pretend to go along with stuff just to fit in for fear of being shamed just like Lesbians and Gay men had to in the past,

I work at a place where there’s a standard badge and a badge where you can have pronouns printed on it too. Most people opt for the standard badge.

You are also allowed to wear charity badges on your lanyard to support charities. For example I’ve seen quite a few breast cancer research ones. Political badges aren’t allowed eg Palestinian flag badges but staff know which other staff have political beliefs like that.

Personally it sounds like the red badge is the normal badge and the rainbow badge is the modified version. People who choose red shouldn’t be made to feel bad about their choice. Personally I would pick red too as I support LGB people but not the QT+. Wearing a rainbow badge these days can mean that you’re anti-women which isn’t acceptable for a place where workers and service users can be female too. IMHO the rainbow symbol has been hijacked by QT+ activists who are often anti-woman and homophobic since it’s perfectly reasonable for people to be gay, lesbian or bi and not pan.

I think that people in your organisation who wear rainbows are letting down women.

I am not "anti" anything, but I thoroughly object to being told I have to be "pro" something as part of my uniform.

OBVIOUSLY people who work with anyone vulnerable - or work with anyone - needs to operate in a non-discriminatory way with people experiencing every different barrier to equal opportunities.

It is a political and partisan act to choose one area of challenge.

Go back to plain lanyards for everyone and let your high standards of inclusive service speak for itself.

I am not anti LGBT+ but I would decline a rainbow badge or any other rainbow item.

I simply don't feel it is necessary. I don't need to be colour coded according to any of my beliefs or preferences.

I would say making everyone wear rainbow badges to begin with was the wrong decision.

It denies same sex attraction, claims heterosexual men who identify as women are lesbians. And lesbians who won’t sleep with such men are transphobic.

It's the ridiculous "Be Kind" agenda brought into places where it didn't ought to be. "Be Kind" has morphed into "Don't challenge anyone."

Be kind be scmind.
shove it