Is anyone else genuinely fearful that their GC views will become public and they will face disciplinary in their job?

[OhDear2200]

I’ve just had a frantic panic where I stupidly followed a link from my Twitter account to sign up for a professional webinar giving my work email address. It would not take anyone any time to link my GC Twitter views to my work.

Can’t believe how stupid I was!

But it’s crazy. I’m sat here panicking that I could face being sacked or receiving a serious ticking off (publicly) because I want women’s views and voices to be heard.

Now I know it’s unlikely to happen (I’ve deactivated my account) as it would take some effort. And I don’t know if the link to signing up to the Webinar would link it to my Twitter account.

Am I the only one who genuinely is fearful of their views coming out?

I feel I have a bit of a duty to speak up when and where I can, but fully appreciate it is not something everyone can risk

And it's not just the risk of dismissal, as real though that is. It's the fact that anyone who gets the label T**f will find her views sidelined, so can no longer have any influence. If it can happen to a woman as rich and powerful as JK Rowling. It can happen to anyone.

I might not get sacked for my GC views because I work in a part of the NHS that is relatively unwoke, but no one would ever listen to my views again. Whereas, at the moment, I am undercover GC so can get heard. I have achieved small victories, e.g. getting sex used instead of gender. The downside is that no one else at work who is GC will know I'm an ally. They probably think I'm full Kool-Aid.

It can happen to anyone and anywhere:

thepostmillennial.com/government-sponsored-erasure-of-womens-rights-advances-with-the-word-female-being-banned-on-international-womens-day/

New Ryan Long video...

You think you've got problems. Try being GC and working in HR! Am currently looking for a new role, you can tell from the job descriptions which companies have been captured, it's a minefield.

Scepticaltank

"Yup, I think I would be disgusted that my dad was so timid."

This has nothing to do with being timid, and I say that as a man. This has to do, with a very powerful ideology, hounding people out of jobs, destroying their lives, simply for speaking out against gross injustice.

I reported incorrect inclusion of "gender" instead of "sex" in the list of protected characteristics included in the Equality Act as feedback on my mandatory Equality and Diversity training.

An innocuous and factual correction, and the feedback is apparently anonymous, but I still hesitated to do it because the atmosphere is so toxic - I'm the sole breadwinner for my family. I can't do anything that would risk my job.

It makes me feel absolutely pathetic. My employer is 100% captured (and I doubt will update the training materials - it's clearly deliberate).

While I think it’s good to keep the risk in perspective, I don’t think it can be dismissed out of hand. My closest friend has had a verbal warning at work (professional services) for saying at a staff party that humans can’t change sex and that transactivism is homophobic. He’s a middle aged gay man. The complainant was a young straight woman. There are no trans staff.

I subvert from within at work and keep work entirely separate from home life, particularly on social media- no work people on Facebook, nothing GC on LinkedIn, no email addresses or info that can link me to work. Our social media policy is very, very broad and a number of people have come a cropper under general “bringing disrepute” for expressing political views. As a PP has said, it’s the “chilling effect” - the threat of repercussions doesn’t have to be explicit to make people think twice.

Hope you’re OK, OP, I think it should be fine for you. Fingers crossed.

@Sophoclesthefox

While I think it’s good to keep the risk in perspective, I don’t think it can be dismissed out of hand. My closest friend has had a verbal warning at work (professional services) for saying at a staff party that humans can’t change sex and that transactivism is homophobic. He’s a middle aged gay man. The complainant was a young straight woman. There are no trans staff.

I subvert from within at work and keep work entirely separate from home life, particularly on social media- no work people on Facebook, nothing GC on LinkedIn, no email addresses or info that can link me to work. Our social media policy is very, very broad and a number of people have come a cropper under general “bringing disrepute” for expressing political views. As a PP has said, it’s the “chilling effect” - the threat of repercussions doesn’t have to be explicit to make people think twice.

Hope you’re OK, OP, I think it should be fine for you. Fingers crossed.

Sooner or later, this will all be challenged.

As an employer, the concept of disciplining an employee with a protected characteristic (sexual identity), who is expressing his lived experience as a member of that group for a perceived slight against people with another protected characteristic - when you have none of those people in your organisation is straight-up insane and proof of the extent to which organisations have been captured.

Imagine this with any other group. Muslim employee states that he suffered discrimination as a Muslim when living in India. You have no Indian employees. Do you discipline him for racism?

This is all a minefield unfortunately. My approach to this issue has been to be more 'active' under the radar. So I am no longer on social media, but I spend a lot more time writing letters (such as to my MP), completing surveys/questionnaires about violence/women's rights/equality etc., donating to crowd funders and campaigns, and speaking to people about women's issues face-to-face.

I always label myself as a radical feminist (even at work), and always approach every conversation from the perspective of women's rights rather than talking about the trans issue. A great way to do this is by keeping a list of easy to remember stats handy (e.g. percentage of women who have experienced violence/harassment/abuse, the sex pay gap etc.) and always bring the topic back to women. When I have been asked about what I think of the 'trans issue', I have asked the person who has asked the question to tell me what they think first. And then I go by that. I don't use slogans and I don't get angry. And if the person I am speaking to talks about 'kindness', inclusivity etc. then my response always goes back to male violence: men harm women, girls and trans people. Activists need to take their concerns to men-we are all in danger because of men, not because of feminists. And if the person persists, and says that radical feminism 'incites' harmful behaviour toward trans people, my response is: 'women have been asking/begging/pleading with men to stop harming/abusing/killing us for generations and they have never listened. What makes you think they have all of a sudden started listening to GC women now when it comes to the trans issue?' And the only reason we ever needed single-sex provision is because of male violence-and that has not changed.

So in conclusion: be more 'active' privately, centre women, hold men to account.

I've had a written warning for insisting that reports record sex and not gender. These are reports which need factual information, recording data such as age, ethnicity, health conditions, body mass index, dates of birth etc.
Lots and lots of factual data.

Three people complained that by insisting on sex, I was trying to score a political point and upset the LGBT part of our workforce.

I can appeal and take it further, and probably compromise any future prospects of progression.
Lots of public school, Russell Group University graduates here.
They all went to to the same school, the same places on holiday.

I wouldn't stand a chance in any legal action.

Thankfully my workplace is anti woke and I doubt anyone there isn’t gc.

I don’t suppose they’re recruiting? I make excellent tea.

My organisation has nebulous ‘values’ with which GC views could easily conflict, depending on interpretation, links with organisations that would influence that interpretation, and younger colleagues who feel free to deploy ‘TERF’ as a slur in the wokeplace. I don’t feel free to be openly GC.

I'm a total coward. I was drunkenly called a TERF on a works do. It was delivered in a light hearted tone by someone who is very active in the trade union at work. I made a sharp exit and NEVER discuss it with anyone.

@childbearinghipsterF

Thankfully my workplace is anti woke and I doubt anyone there isn’t gc.

I don’t suppose they’re recruiting? I make excellent tea.

My organisation has nebulous ‘values’ with which GC views could easily conflict, depending on interpretation, links with organisations that would influence that interpretation, and younger colleagues who feel free to deploy ‘TERF’ as a slur in the wokeplace. I don’t feel free to be openly GC.

Can you use their own tactics against them? Could you approach it from the POV that you feel 'unsafe' in an environment where such terms are used in the office and where personal political opinions are being brought into the workplace?

@bellinisurge

I'm a total coward. I was drunkenly called a TERF on a works do. It was delivered in a light hearted tone by someone who is very active in the trade union at work. I made a sharp exit and NEVER discuss it with anyone.

That is awful. I completely understand where you're coming from but someone who is in anyway involved in a union should not be drunkenly saying anything like that to a colleague. I know it's easy for me to say but my workplace is heavily unionised as well and I do get involved in meetings etc. and I would absolutely bring something like that up-approaching it from the aspect that this person is making drunken accusations at a colleague about their perceived political opinions.

No. I am careful and try not to confront it head on. I'm guessing that in a work setting, no one is going to fly into an outrage on Yammer calling me a TERF.

Yeah I work for L.A So I darent even whisper it amongst colleagues.
On Facebook, I block any tantalising links or posts do I don't let my real self out.
Sad but I hate my job but I can't get benefits so I need the job.

I'm feeling that in the last week, in the woke mindsets of identity politics hierarchy, Women is the top band wagon to be on at the moment, Gosh I hate that the Wokes weaponise others victimhoods for their own kicks, someone coined the phrase Revolution Toursim, which I thought was very apt.

Anyway, so now I feel I could express opinions about womens rights at work with less fear of making others feel 'uncomfortable'.

I'm pissed off enough that I started a new, clean Twitter that can't be associated with me. I want to be able to follow who I want and say what I think without being intimidated.

Not at all worried that work would discipline me for what I've done so far. They'd have no cause.

But complaints about me could be made - anyone can make complaints - and rightly or wrongly that influences the climate about you at work. I'm not the best at my job - I'm a bit erratic, though good on my day. I don't want to have complaints made about me to be on her mind the next time my boss is facing having to support me through something else.

@GoldieShawn I could try, but the organisation flying in the face of its purpose is so bought in to the ideology that it’s already publicly capitulated once to outside pressure, and - more broadly - nailed its flag of foolishness to the mast. I wouldn’t rate my chances.