How would you feel if your employer was donating money to Mermaids?

[PropertyFlipper]

As the question above says. This has recently come to light and I’m really uncomfortable about it. I dare not raise my objections for fear of being seen as prejudiced or uninclusive. What would you do?

First step would be to find out if they've been induced to do it by one of the big LGBT lobby groups, or if it's a personal hobby horse. If it's something coming from the owner or someone in senior management you have very little chance of changing it and are quite likely to be victimised yourself.

I think I'd feel a bit sick and would want to get to the bottom of it in a neutral way!

I think it would wholly depend on the nature of the objections? If you have a personal negative experience with Mermaids that makes you uncomfortable then there is probably a reasonable discussion to be had, but if your objections are more ideological then you may paint yourself in a bad light, or potentially really upset somebody if the reason for the donation is that Mermaids helped someone personally within the company.

I would gauge the mood by talking to colleagues.

I would mention the Keira Bell case and that it worried me that mermaids were on the losing side as I trust the judges.

I would also state that I was unconscious with the allegations of homophobia.

Ask them if with the controversy over Stonewall the money might be better spent with the Albert Kennedy Trust instead? The AKT help LGBT homeless young people who can't go back home after uni or are thrown out when their families discover they're gay etc. Actual useful help instead of pontificating. Even if your employer agrees with Stonewall they must see that they do little but pontificate. The AKT is a better practical option.

I wouldn't challenge it if I was worried about losing my job.
But I would suggest charities that they could support, seeing as they do charitable work.

My DH works for a very woke French advertising and public relations firm as a contractor.

Shon Faye was invited to deliver an online talk/restricted debate, which he mentioned disturbed many of the female staff who had looked-up Shon's words, particularly about sexualising young girls and the 'enjoy your erasure' quote.

The firm is 'full-BLM' but not the black-led BLM, more the White Woke version with racialist thinking at its core. All imported from US staff.

My DH has been asked if he fancies going 'permie' a few times now. He's determined that the firm is ethically and morally corrupt and he will likely decline an extension if it's offered. He has extremely sought-after skills, so jumping ship is relatively easy for him to contemplate.

I think if I found the firm I worked-for had donated money to Mermaids, I reckon I'd leave ASAP. I recently stopped shopping at Sainsbury's for its support for leading homophobia and misogyny promoter, Stonewall. I was spending ~£700/month with that supermarket.

I would be mortified if my company was giving money to Mermaids.

As pp have said, it might be worth doing some research first to see what the situation is. Many people are still genuinely ignorant about the harm they are causing.

You could print out copies of the BBC Newsnight report that makes it clear that of the 30-odd doctors who resigned from the Tavistock recently, every single one cited concerns about parents who wanted to 'trans the gay away'.

Copies could be pinned on noticeboards, taped to the inside of toilet doors etc.

It's also worth mentioning that (before Susie Green took over) the Mermaids website used to state very clearly on the front page that the vast majority of gender-confused kids desist from those feelings as they get older. For some reason this important fact is now kept quiet.

but if your objections are more ideological then you may paint yourself in a bad light, or potentially really upset somebody if the reason for the donation is that Mermaids helped someone personally within the company.

Mermaids promote harmful and sexist stereotyping and lobby for experimental body modifications to healthy children.

Child safeguarding is not ideology.

I would leave. I could not be complicit.

Talk about what their CEO arranged in Thailand for her child's 16th birthday.

I'm pretty certain that if I didn't manage to change their minds or leave, the quality of my work would suffer.

Generally you wouldn't know.

I've gathered than many people do not really understand what Mermaids is about, they've only looked at it superficially.

You can't do anything about it anyway. If it doesn't affect your work environment, it's not your business. I believe your boss is seriously misguided and needs to do some research. If you're friends with him or her you could explain things, otherwise ignore.