Anyone know much about TENI?

[alwayswithhope]

I work in a large organisation in Ireland. For pride week they sent around an email talking about trans rights etc. They have made bathrooms for ‘anyone who identifies as a woman’ but have also designated single bathrooms previously for disabled employees as neutral bathrooms anyone can use so can’t complain about that as there is a space for those who feel uncomfortable using the new ‘women’s bathrooms’ (not sure disabled employees will be happy but no one seems to care ) anyway there was also a voluntary training online on the whole thing of gender identify given by TENI. Sign up must have been poor as there was a reminder sent around to ‘sign up to attend one of these sessions at your earliest convenience’ so it feels to me like this will become mandatory.

Just wondering if I have to go? And if anyone knows anything about TENI?

Have they made bathrooms for anyone who identify as man ? Just curious . Not attempting to answer question

On what authority would an outside lobby group like Teni be allowed to send an email to you and your colleagues. They were involved recently in the guidelines for General Practitioners (doctors) and the document produced for the doctors to act on as regards trans was basically written by a trans women in charge of Teni and it had to be withdrawn as it was inaccurate. Pretty odd anyway that a person with no medical experience from a lobby group was involved.

Here is one link which shows both the authors on the GP guidelines do not have the relevant expertise and Vanessa Lacey is part of the lobby group Teni.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/irish-college-of-gps-reverses-stance-on-puberty-blockers-nh7kj6xbm

The ICGP guide to providing care for transgender patients, written by Dr Des Crowley and Vanessa Lacey, also stated that oestrogen and testosterone therapy were “partially reversible interventions”. Crowley is an assistant director of the ICGP addiction management programme, while Lacey is health and education manager with Transgender Equality Network Ireland (Teni), a group that lobbies for transgender rights.

They are being invited in to ‘educate’ us on gender equality and how to support our trans colleagues. There are multiple information seminars being given and while they are voluntary at the minute the language in the emails to sign up is changing to ‘sign up now’ and seems to be moving toward mandatory.

Yes @midgedude basically we had women’s men’s and disabled bathrooms. Now it’s women’s men’s and neutral and anyone who identifies as a man or woman can use whatever bathroom they want.

TENI are top of the signatories on that letter Amnesty signed, and from what I understand it was written by a member.
www.michaelnugent.com/2020/12/04/amnesty-falsely-denies/

They worked with the Irish College of General Practitioners in the guide which falsely claimed that puberty blockers are fully reversible: womensspaceireland.ie/articles/the-icgp-and-teni/

They worked with the HSE on a guide for GPs that claims without basis that everyone has a gender identity:
www.hse.ie/eng/about/our-health-service/making-it-better/hse-launches-information-booklet-for-gps-working-with-transgender-people.html

There's some info here on TENI's dealings with the IHREC:
womensspaceireland.ie/articles/the-ihrec-and-teni/

They appear to be hand in glove with the National Women's Council of Ireland, their Chair is now on the board of the NWCI.

Sorry Cailin66, ended up cross-posting as I was looking for links, so I've repeated some of your points.

Thanks for the articles @Cailin66 and @Mermoose

Also - not to derail the conversation but I do think this is a bit relevant - I've heard recently of a tech company in the US that has lost a huge number of engineers over woke HR stuff like this. Engineers are difficult to replace, there's stiff competition among IT companies as demand is greater than the number of candidates available. Sorry for not giving specifics, I know about it via a friend and not sure I can say anything more. But I'm not surprised that the backlash is happening in areas where the employees can easily move to another good job. But as it starts to be seen as a liability, companies will eventually drop it, I think. Hang in there, basically.

No problem Mermoose. I find it shocking that Irish Medical practitioners allowed such access and influence from a lobby group. And on top of that allowed Teni to write their guidelines by someone not qualified in the field.

Always With Hope, what symbols are on the bathrooms now. Who uses the bathrooms. I have a colleague in a large international organisation where it is their remit to support such bathrooms, so they made the ladies the neutral one. After two month of it the women were sick of male visitors coming into their toilet and someone took the sign off the door and it reverted back to being female. It didn't help that the ladies there used the toilets to change for the gym. It's a sub-office of a much larger organisation so there isn't a lot of options.

This charming individual is their National Community Development Officer www.teni.ie/meet-the-team/

They have posted before about smashing TERFS and wanting TERFs terrified. TENI did nothing.

They have posted anti English Tweets like the one above just posted today:
twitter.com/trasinscneach/status/1402526120189300739/photo/1

"When Brit & westbrit TERFs call trans people just living their lives TRAs (trans rights activists) this is all I can think of.

🎶🎵 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯 🎶🎵

Up the TRA! 🇮🇪"

Some Irish TRAS love to imply we have no Irish gender critical feminists at all and just import them from the UK, trying to stir anti-English sentiment.

Obviously there could be some trans identifying employees but do you know of any where you work OP, and how many disabled employees there are?

If there are disabled people working with you I'd be thinking of them as their toilets have just been repurposed.

I would be asking your employer for their impact assessment on changing toilet facilities to mixed sex - don’t use the term gender neutral - it’s sex that matters.
The fact that they have stabbed disabled staff in the back and trampled over their rights to have access to designated toilets specifically for disabled people only shows that they haven’t really though about the full implications.
If I were a disabled employee there I’d be shouting from the rooftops. What they’ve done is ignored the protected characteristics of the EA or sex and disability and replaced them with a made up one - gender identity. TENI are well known for trampling over women’s rights. I wouldn’t sign up to any forced training from them - and if I had to, I’d make damn sure I voiced my opinion.

TENI make Stonewall and Mermaids look benign and friendly . Unfortunately it seems under Irish law (gender not sex being the protected characteristic, and self-id being law) they have the law on their side.

I predict it will take Ireland 10 years to get to where the UK is today; as per usual Ireland is behind on women's rights, just this time it's being hailed as progressive

Comments on the EA don't apply to Ireland. Equalities legislation citing gender instead of sex, and destroying women's sex-based rights has slipped in without notice or question by anyone in authority.

Anyone sticking their head above the parapet is not only a TERF, but a West-Brit-Terf (the lowest of the low, it seems).

I’d be tempted to question how access to toilet is going to be maintained for the disabled people that need it.

Do you get a sense that other people are questioning the training and changes?

@TurquoiseBaubles

TENI make Stonewall and Mermaids look benign and friendly . Unfortunately it seems under Irish law (gender not sex being the protected characteristic, and self-id being law) they have the law on their side.

I predict it will take Ireland 10 years to get to where the UK is today; as per usual Ireland is behind on women's rights, just this time it's being hailed as progressive

Yes, it's depressing. Nobody is really questioning it, and politicians and media are patting themselves on the back at how progressive and liberal we are . It's just more of the same really...men in dresses telling Irish women how to live our lives.

Honestly, my best hope is that the UK pushes back against this fully and we will (slowly) follow behind as usual. Our government don't act, they react.

The fact that self id law was brought in by stealth, means it will be a longer road back from this, but I'm hopeful that we will get there.

Who was the Irish politician who brought up self id in the Dail a few months ago? And seemingly nobody really gave a decent response. And since then there has been tumbleweeds...

Hi all, I actually haven’t been in the office - we are all still full time from home so I’ve no idea what labels are now on toilets just read this policy that disabled toilets are being made neutral and anyone who considers themselves a woman / man can use the changing rooms and toilets of how they identify. So I don’t know the impact yet. There are no transiting people in my team of 70. I know as I’ve worked with them all for years - pretty much all are married with kids. I haven’t spoken to anyone about this at all. I just noticed a distinct change in tone of signing up for these ‘voluntary’ seminars given by TENI so wanted to arm myself with some information in case they become compulsory. We’ve also been told we should use pronouns on our emails but again not compulsory yet. I have been following what’s been happening in U.K. on this board and just waiting for it to be introduced in my work place.

Their CEO - or someone using their CEO's name and image - also has some interesting social media posts. Some women have dicks, some transphobes have no teeth, that kind of thing. Lovely.

alwayswithhope I would say for now just ignore the 'summons' to attend anything TENI related. It's not compulsory, and if they do officially request it just say you are busy with work etc.

The distinctive (read: aggressive) tone is pretty standard with TENI...however just ignore ignore ignore.

Is there anyone at work that you can have a quiet word with to put the feelers out and see if anyone else feels the same about this?

Their official Facebook page might give a manager pause if they were considering presenting TENI as appropriate 'trainers' on how to behave in the workplace. The video of their Trans Day of Visibility webchat, for example, includes staff members, CEO and a Board member taking part, one of whom (unless I need an eye test) has the partially-but-not-reliably-obscured word 'FUCK' prominently displayed on their shirt.

Yes planning to ignore but wanted to have some information about them to hand if/when I get approached. It’s amazing how much upset there is to accommodate what I can only imagine as being

Your employers are bringing in representatives of an organisation that appealed for political representation to be withdrawn from people who defend biology. Many of those people who defend biology are women, and it will be women who are most adversely impacted by the import of this new ideology.

Your employer is creating a pretty hostile environment for people who state mainstream scientific facts. Or women who don't want to be discriminated against and be put at a disadvantage again. What about your safety, privacy and dignity?

I'm sorry I have no answers, but I just can't believe Irish society is screwing women double again. The past complicity of the State has not even been dealt with yet, and they are so eager to threaten women's meagre gains with yet another imported misogynistic ideology.

Goodness, see the bit about using the disabled facilities too.

@TurquoiseBaubles

Comments on the EA don't apply to Ireland. Equalities legislation citing gender instead of sex, and destroying women's sex-based rights has slipped in without notice or question by anyone in authority.

Anyone sticking their head above the parapet is not only a TERF, but a West-Brit-Terf (the lowest of the low, it seems).

Not just anyone Turquoise. Only women. Colm O'Gorman was having matey exchanges with David Paisley in Scotland with warnings about the evils of British women lending any support to Irish women. These blokes seem to want to stop Irish women 'getting above themselves'. It's all right for the pen is havers to work together to screw women over. It is all pally hands across the water then.

Men's rights activists (misogynists all) are not called west brit. Nobody points Yogyakarta is a long way from Tipperary when they spout their anti foreigner stuff. They actually mean that Irish women should shut up and stop looking for the rights women elsewhere have.