NHS badges

[boydy99]

I dont know if anyone else has seen this yet. My organisation is also public sector and pro Stonewall so wondering how long it is until we have a similar policy.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/aec64082-cbb4-11eb-b575-81b2a16c3be4?shareToken=203864c87d5e4519397c8dea43d8a407

So not wearing a badge visibly shows that you haven't done the "pledge" - no pressure there then

NHS workers should not be outwardly displaying their political affiliations. Wearing the badge shows that you have signed up to a particular set of values that may seem hostile to a whole swathe of protected beliefs.

Better to have lots of awareness training across the board. It should be a basic assumption that whoever you are you will be treated with decency and respect whilst in NHS care.

This - NHS staff, by definition have obligations to support all patients - equally.

This includes patients sexed-based rights.

NHS workers should not be outwardly displaying their political affiliations. Wearing the badge shows that you have signed up to a particular set of values that may seem hostile to a whole swathe of protected beliefs.

have you looked at the values, i cannot see where they are hostile

Absolutely Many religions think homosexuality is a sin, and supporting LGB would be akin to promoting forbidden behaviour.

oh good point @DazzlePaintedBattlePants and one i hadnt considered.

They have the rainbow lanyards at my workplace, you have to pay for them. Alot of people have them as they are the fashion now, both asthetically and politically.
The pride rainbow is a symbol of support for womens oppression for me and has been for a long time now.
I find it offputting when ever I see it and just have to hope whoever is wearing it is unaware of the negative conotations.

Rainbow badges have been around in the nhs for a while. The pledge looks like this - see attached - which I felt was fairly benign to be honest. But lesbians on mn told me they would perceive the badge as hostile.

@UppityPuppity

Better to have lots of awareness training across the board. It should be a basic assumption that whoever you are you will be treated with decency and respect whilst in NHS care.

This - NHS staff, by definition have obligations to support all patients - equally.

This includes patients sexed-based rights.

All staff have training. But LGBT people are disadvantaged in the workplace and are less likely to access healthcare. The Pride network (which, in my trust, is 80% lesbian or bi women) initiated the badges. The idea is to make LGBT people feel supported and feel safe to be open about being gay at work, if they want to do so. Nobody judges anyone who doesn't wear one, honestly, we're all too busy! Colleagues who wear the purple lanyards also 'pledge' alliance to people with disabilities. I do understand where people are coming from with their concerns (believe it or not, I'm GC) The idea comes from a good place, but I can see how it could be manipulated if you worked with TRA.

NHS Rainbow Badge also has its own dedicated Twitter account. I note there is an upcoming online talk on LGBTQ micro-aggressions midday Saturday 19th June for anyone interested.

FOI requests for associated costs show one trust spent £2783 on rainbow lanyards and another helpfully provided a spreadsheet showing a range of costs, eg for bunting and posters as well as lanyards totalling £2196.

My trust has just announced that patient facing staff shouldn't wear lanyards for reasons of infection control so perhaps they will disappear like a damp squib.

Other groups who might be less likely to access healthcare -

• People who speak English as a foreign language
• People who use BSL
• Domestic abuse survivors
• Sexual abuse survivors
• Neurodiverse People
• People with dementia
• People with a disability (including invisible disabilities)
• People who have been through abuse (including adverse childhood experiences)
• People with literacy issues

I'm sure there's many more.

TabithaTiger whilst I don't doubt some LGBT people still face discrimination in some settings I really would be surprised if this was the case within the NHS. I've never seen anything to suggest this is the case where I work and there are lots of gay and lesbian staff that I know of.

*speak English as an additional language, that should read

@MajesticWhine

Rainbow badges have been around in the nhs for a while. The pledge looks like this - see attached - which I felt was fairly benign to be honest. But lesbians on mn told me they would perceive the badge as hostile.

Surely all NHS staff would / should be a friendly ear for LGBT people / families?

This scheme effectively means that people who wear the badge will be seen as inclusive, and those who don't as bigots.

www.nhsggc.org.uk/your-health/equalities-in-health/whats-new/nhs-scotland-pride-badge/ has a link to the pride pledge. It says people may need to call out "hate speech". Concerning given legal cases show one person's idea of hate speech is another person's free speech and legitimate opinion. There is also a link to report hate crime to the police. The hateful hate crime act is not yet law.

@2Rebecca

https://www.nhsggc.org.uk/your-health/equalities-in-health/whats-new/nhs-scotland-pride-badge/ has a link to the pride pledge. It says people may need to call out "hate speech". Concerning given legal cases show one person's idea of hate speech is another person's free speech and legitimate opinion. There is also a link to report hate crime to the police. The hateful hate crime act is not yet law.

Thanks for the link - I'm just reading the toolkit that links to.

Oneinfive LGBT+ people do not disclose their sexual orientation when seeking general medical care.

Why is sexual orientation relevant when seeking general medical care?

Almost half of trans people (46 per cent) have tried taking their own life in the last year, 31 per cent of LGB people who aren’t trans said the same.

The suicide statistic has been widely discredited as only being a survey of 27 trans people who were self selected in that the replied to a survey done by an LGBT charity

Good grief.

This surely just creates a hostile working environment. Differences of opinions exist. I dont believe in God but I can Co exists and work along side people who do quite happily and easily.

How many of the people wearing the lanyards are actually lgbt? How to lgbt people actually feel about straight people using their lives and their experiences as a way to gain attention and gain approval from people. Do lgbt really want straight people making life worse for them by completely misunderstanding what phobias actually are and leaving thise who are lgbt to pick up the pieces when they move on to the next cause....

All this surely just makes stuff worse fir everyone

More nonsense in the toolkit if you click on it which says the + in LGBT+ stands for "all sexual orientations". All? Including heterosexual? We are all in the umbrella now.

Re: the ''statistics':

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3202419-Trans-child-suicide-stats

Analysis of the suicide claims by FPFW:

fairplayforwomen.com/suicide/

I'm even more confused now,

According to forwomen.scot/13/06/2021/nhs-scotland-pride-badge/ the badge also shows support for "minority ethnic groups" and the jaunty video echoes this.

What has pride for to do with different ethnicities?

Re: the pressure to wear one...

One unintentional consequence that I've encountered is people who are homophobic wearing one partly, I suspect, to avoid management actually being able to, um, address their homophobia.

What has pride for to do with different ethnicities?

Shamelessness in appropriation - that flag has been available for a while (and roundly criticised).

The letter in the above FWS link talks about speaking up and challenging intolerance and the pledge says:

“ Sometimes, you may need to call out hate speech, report incidents of discrimination or acts of verbal or physical abuse against patients, people who use our services, and staff (including contractor staff).”

However, “hate speech” and “intolerance” are not defined. I’d be uncomfortable participating without clear definitions.

The best comment for me was "Diversity in all things except opinion".
If you don't agree with and obey us then you are a bigot.