Work participating in Transgender Remembrance day

[PygmyGoat]

This morning I received an email to our whole office from a colleague detailing that next Tuesday is transgender remembrance day and to show our support we are having a dress down day to raise money for the charity, and we are encouraged to participate in a cake sale to also raise money for the charity.

This is not something I want to support but, how do I withdraw my support without coming across like a knob?

I'm not comfortable with such virtue signalling anyway, but supporting something that I totally disagree with despite it being the "woke" thing to do at the moment, isn't something I'm prepared to do.

What would you do?

Ignore it. Wear your usual clothes and don’t participate in the bake sale. None of this is compulsory. If challenged, say that you don’t like being forced to support specific charities and you already support other charities of your choice.

I do feel for you. Glad I no longer work and have to navigate this crap. Bake some vulva cakes?

Who is the colleague? Is this a company-sponsored thing?

I'd just ignore it completely.

I suspect that a lot of people at your place of work will do the same.

On Tuesday say, oh is that today, I already have a number of charities I support. Big smile. You won’t be the only one.

Ha...if challenged, you just started a diet at the weekend so no cake for you...and as for the clothes, well you completely forgot/had a meeting.

Otherwise ignore.

Just ignore. And don't get drawn into conversations about why. If anyone involved tries to get you to discuss it, change the subject to something work-related.

Or, if challenged naively ask if it is connected to Remberance Sunday and say you already gave to Help for Heros/Poppy Charity.

How out are you prepared to be? Could you say you believe transactivist ideology is both misogynist and homophobic, and also promotes a form of child abuse, and you’re not supporting it for that reason? Like, the don’t-pull-any-punches approach?

Only suggesting that because if you just say you don’t want to support it without saying why, they may well think you’re a Vile Transphobic Bigot anyway, so you might as well seize the opportunity to educate them.

@TalkingintheDark

That is EXACTLY what is like to say!

I don't want to come across as a bigot and it's not something I am prepared to support, but is the office the right place to stand on my vulva shaped soap box?

Say nothing. I can't help but feel that certain people really want to provoke a reaction in order to demonstrate their woke credentials. Don't get drawn in.

If pressed, say that you're already supporting Unicef World Children's Day. Which is on the same date.

African Industrialisation Day is also on the same date.

Good advice folks

I'd wear normal clothes, or book the day off so I didn't have to be around it all.

Or go in dress down, don't bother contributing to the chosen charity and make a separate donation to a women's aid charity.

What is transgender rememberance day?? Rememberance of what???
I don't understand

@frasersmummy
I assume it's remembering transgender people that have been killed.

That's not what I am against. It's the ideology behind it and the agenda that it tries to push under the guise of "remembering".

The colleague organising it is the same one who would organise any other fund raising activity and I believe she is very well meaning and seeing this as a chance to be inclusive and right on rather than having any ulterior motive. The trouble is also our team leader is very openly gay (can I say camp?) and I feel like he would totally support this just on the LGBTwhateverelse basis. I adore him and would hate for him to think of me as a bigot.

You're onto a loser if you soapbox on Transgender Remembrance Day. It's the worst possible moment to do it.
Take the opportunity to observe who virtue-signals avidly and who hangs back, and then if you want to come out on a less charged day you can use that information then.

I am GC but I would not pick this as a battle to fight. Yes it's annoying that work places don't remember the women killed by male violence, but that doesn't negate standing with anyone who is a victim of violence and prejudice. I think you have to divorce it from everything else that's happening, and perhaps think about what you'd do if it was a different minority group.

"What is transgender rememberance day?? Rememberance of what???"

It's officially a day of remembrance of people who have been killed in transphobic violence. This is extremely rare to non-existent in the UK, so some people say that the promotion of this event is intended to construct a narrative in relation to trans rights. Other people however say that you should just shut up because it's about people being killed. Even if no-one involved has any sort of connection to being a victim of transphobic violence.

I’d be so tempted to ask if it’s in remembrance of the people who have been murdered by self identifying trans people. Straight face 😐 innocent look 😇 After all , more people have been murdered by transwomen than there are transwomen victims.

Turns up in sharpest, most expensive suit in wardrobe

"Huh? Oh, that. Yeah, so I'm meeting [client's name] for lunch and I'm really hoping to close that 10m deal over it, so there's that...

... ooooooooh, yes, I see, you're alright with me dressing up if it means we're getting a whole lot closer to having abundant money for our shareholders charitable causes. Thank you for being so very understanding!“

Just ignore it is my advice.
This is similar to the thread about supporting school fundraising like Comic Relief/Children in Need etc. Not being British I ALWAYS forget about these, forget to send money in for donations, forget (or just ignore) the dressing up or mufti stuff. My children don’t care, no one has ever bullied them, and no one has ever said a word to me about my forgetting to participate/donate etc. Now I know more about these charities and the causes they support (not to mention all the abuse scandals) I will be choosing not to donate, as opposed to forgetting, but the outcome will be the same. You’d want to be a pretty sad or idle person to be monitoring what other parents/colleagues are wearing/donating etc. FFS who has the time for that. And worst case scenario is someone thinks I am terrible, a bad parent, a bad person, big deal, I couldn’t care less what people think of me when it comes to things like fundraising. No one knows or needs to know who or what I donate to, it’s a completely private matter.