NHS rainbow badges

[YesIWorkForTheNHS]

As per (shiny new) user name, I work for the NHS. They're bringing in rainbow badges and lanyards at my trust (Google NHS rainbow badges if you want).

Anyone want to help me disentagle / articulate what I think about this?

On the one hand, I want to be inclusive (in the sense that I want everyone to have equal access to healthcare, and remove barriers - real or perceived - to people accessing what we offer). But biological sex matters, particularly in healthcare, and I think we should be held to high standards wrt equality of access for everyone (including women and girls) whether or not we are wearing stripy accessories.

I'm ignoring it for now. But I've had plenty of people tell me how great it is. I have friends at work who know what I believe wrt sex and gender, but I'm not sure I want to have an all-out discussion about my decision not to signal "my tribe" with a badge. The rainbow does not (any longer) represent my beliefs.

I have been offered a rainbow badge to work (NHS). I have declined as my role is to treat everyone fairly, with competence and compassion. I don't feel the need to virtue signal. I didn't realise there was such a background. Think I'll hang around these boards some more, I'm learning a lot.

Golden I’m confused. Everybody has protected characteristics. I thought this was about LGBT+, not a rainbow to mean support for everyone with any protected characteristic. If it covers all people then what’s it for? What does it say about the wearer?

There is this NHS initiative linked to upthread but that is for supporting patients who are or might be LGBT+

www.evelinalondon.nhs.uk/about-us/news-events/2019-news/20190321-nhs-rainbow-badges-promote-inclusion.aspx

www.evelinalondon.nhs.uk/about-us/who-we-are/NHS-Rainbow-Badges.aspx

GoldenBlue what is meant by "support anyone with a protected characteristic", though?

Are we going to support a female who wants to be on a single sex ward? Or are we going to support the person who is biologically male and self-identifies as female who has been placed in the next bed?

If this were my specialist area and I had the contacts and knowledge to deal with that situation, the yes a rainbow badge might be appropriate. But if it's just to signal "you can expect me to do my job", why bother?

I don't think it is either of those - it's become a political statement that you are going to support the self-identified woman over the one who want the single sex space (whether or not that's what the wearer intends).

In order to be get one you have to sign up to an agreement that you will be willing to support anyone with a protected characteristic

erm...so thats anyone who isnt a straigh white male without a disability then?

Whats so bad about straight white non-disabled men that you don't want to support them?

It is all just fucking nonsense. We need to stop it.

Even a straight white able-bodied male has protected characteristics though.

Or does the agreement only refer to supporting those with certain values of those characteristics?

www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/09/19/mumsnet-nhs-rainbow-badges-anti-lgbt

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Good grief, the Pink News just assumed my gender !!!!

Call PC Gull. Instantly. Mobilise the WY Police.

But thanks for sharing that point widely guys, I'm glad it'll be well circulated because you can't really argue with it, can you? To do so is about as dumb as stating that the MNetter saying this is a lesbian and then immediately stating that this isn't the first time MN has fallen foul of the LGBT+ community.

I AM part of the LGBT+ community. Unless - as the quote you're decrying says - lesbians off message are not welcomed or accepted by you. Hence proving someone wearing one of your badges is not someone I'm going to rush to trust.

BASIC logic.

Well they have said that I am two people. Both of my spirits are offended.

It really leaves you wondering: do they think anything said there is untrue? (Such as excluding women who can't share spaces with males, or that the agenda PN support is against the inclusion or acceptance of lesbians who are homosexual rather than homogenderal)

Those views are pretty much upheld by their articles on a regular basis!

Or is it just totally unacceptable to straight out say so?

Hence the request to HQ to delete the thread.

I hope HQ told them to do one (and suggest that they need to delete some of the shit they come up with).

YesIWorkForTheNHS

I also wonder, with the green lanyard, while it's political in a certain sense, wearing it really does not seem to have the connotations that might alienate some people. Also, how many patients are very aware what it means? Whereas now even rainbows that have nothing to do with LGBT stuff are interpreted as being about that.

I think Mumsnetters come out of that quite well as a group of women with a variety of views who are not afraid to debate contentious issues

I wear a rainbow badge. I do not sign up to the full gender nonsense but I still feel completely able to wear the rainbow badge. I am happy to show that I am open and compassionate to anyone regardless of their sexuality or gender identity. I can still sign up for this despite not agreeing with gender ideology.

Also Mumsnet is thought of by many as representing the views of women. If "women" think NHS Rainbow lanyards are divisive virtue signalling tokens that may put off as many people as they attract then maybe rainbow colouring everything for corporate woke points and Stonewall gender neutral Brownie badges isn't a great idea. I'm not sure Pink News are being as clever as they think they are by publicising people's increasing discomfort with corporate rainbowisation and many women seeing the LGBT rainbow being monopolised by trans rights activists seeking to silence gender critical women.

*Majestic’ but it is not about you and how you feel about wearing the badge is it? It is about how you are being exclusionary by wearing one.

Pinknews articles are not generally very good, that one is just a series of comments they pasted off the internet! But it doesn't actually engage, even with the comments you might expect them to find more compelling.

It represents inclusion not exclusion. If you have a different interpretation that is your issue, doesn't make it true. The intention behind it is benign.

The intention is anything but benign and my interpretation, an that of other patients is the only relevant factor here. How do you consider that a political symbol of LGBT lobbying is inclusionary to Muslims, orthodox Christians, same-sex attracted lesbians, women from minority ethnic communities, gender-critical feminists? If it doesn’t include these groups it is exclusionary.

Why is public money being wasted on this? Why am I being told I have to part with yet more of my hard earned to support “our NHS” when it is pissing money up the wall for this?
Christ on a bike. The world truly has gone mad.

That PN article is weird. It basically just summarises this thread without any analysis.

The only thing it really added was this (see screenshot). Which kind of undermined their point. If studies show that lesbian/bi women are particularly invisible in healthcare, then surely the lesbian/bi women on this thread saying that the rainbow lanyards made things worse should be a concern?

Or are they referring only to penis-owning lesbians?

How do you consider that a political symbol of LGBT lobbying is inclusionary to Muslims, orthodox Christians, same-sex attracted lesbians, women from minority ethnic communities, gender-critical feminists? If it doesn’t include these groups it is exclusionary.

This this this.

Forget for a moment that the T is in any way a problem or controversial, here or anywhere.

How can it be inclusive of all these people? It's exclusive, and it seems intentionally so, though not in a self-aware way.

The only reason poople think that is ok s because they think it does not matter if those people feel included and comfortable during their time in hospital or treatment. And if people think that is ok, all it shows is they are happy to include the people they find it easy to sympathise with but not those whose values they don't share.

Maybe we need "rainbow" representation in the multi faith centre, so anyone with particular concerns that they believe might only be understood / addressed by a rainbow-badge wearing person can know where to find them.

Again the trouble there Iwork is that it may be interpreted that only staff wearing the badge are trustworthy/believe in the politics, and staff not wearing it may be GC.

This is what happens when politics enters a workplace, and it's why it's so important that public facing staff aren't wearing signifiers of any partisan political belief that includes/excludes specific groups. In a public facing job everyone does everybody and leaves their political beliefs at home.