Challenging language at work

[cariadlet]

I'm a primary school teacher and today is an INSET day. This morning, we reviewed our teaching and learning policy. The headteacher got to the paragraph about equalities, read it aloud and then went to move straight on to the next paragraph because she didn't think there was anything to discuss.

This was the wording:
"We aim to ensure that all pupils have equal access and opportunity in the curriculum, regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and that teaching and learning in our school reflects our diverse society and promotes inclusion."

We're a big school so there were a lot of staff in the Hall, but I put my hand up and said that I thought that it should say sex rather than gender. The head made a vague comment so I added that sex is a protected characteristic and gender isn't so I really thought that the word needed to be changed because sex and gender are very different things.

Thank you, all you lovely vipers who post in the naughty corner. You peaked me over the summer and if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had the knowledge or confidence to challenge this.

Anyone else been brave at work?

Not brave as it was anonymous, but I queried the inclusion of gender rather than sex in our online mandatory equalities training module and it actually got changed!

Also, a recent staff survey included a "what is your sex (as recorded on your birth certificate)" question at the beginning and then an optional question on transgender identity, whereas I'm sure that the same survey last year in this ultra-woke org was gender up the yazoo so maybe more people are speaking up and they're listening (to the bloody law!)

Well done ditalini. That's great that you got it changed.

I have also questioned this at work. It was met with a lot of positive feedback and support which brought great relief as I felt I was 'marking my card'.

It's definitely worth doing if the conditions and work environment allow and if you can't speak up due to being totally terrified of how it will be received it is a sign that more of us who can, should. Some really can't as their livelihoods rely on staying silent.

Whether the question is “What is your gender?” or “What is your sex?” is irrelevant. Do you really think women who transition put ‘male’? Gender ID is protected in law - and all characteristics that someone is born with in a fair and just society should be protected ❤️

I queried the use of "birthing parent" and "non-birthing parent" in HR policies at my work, suggesting "mother or birthing parent" / "father or non-birthing parent" would be more truly inclusive, given that the vast majority of people surely prefer the terms mother/father.

I got a thanks but no thanks reply.

You head teacher needs to be made aware that misrepresenting the protected characteristics is unlawful and could lead to a trip to court.

You head teacher needs to be made aware that misrepresenting the protected characteristics is unlawful and could lead to a trip to court

I think that she hadn't just really thought about it before I raised it. I'm pretty sure that the wording is going to be changed.

@PoppyMuldrew

Whether the question is “What is your gender?” or “What is your sex?” is irrelevant. Do you really think women who transition put ‘male’? Gender ID is protected in law - and all characteristics that someone is born with in a fair and just society should be protected ❤️

Gender reassignment is the protected characteristic, not gender identity. It's debatable in the case of under 18s what gender reassignment might mean, and given that they can't get a GRC, their legal sex remains the one on the birth certificate.

Whether the question is “What is your gender?” or “What is your sex?” is irrelevant. Do you really think women who transition put ‘male’? Gender ID is protected in law - and all characteristics that someone is born with in a fair and just society should be protected

Gender id isn't protected in law; gender reassignment is protected. The wording of the law is that sex is a protected characteristic. There's an important distinction between how a person feels and what a person is.

Doing policy reviews at work, I added "sex" to the list of characteristics which we would not discriminate against. It only had gender down before my review. I wasn't quite brave enough to scrub out gender, but my addition was accepted.

@PoppyMuldrew

Whether the question is “What is your gender?” or “What is your sex?” is irrelevant. Do you really think women who transition put ‘male’? Gender ID is protected in law - and all characteristics that someone is born with in a fair and just society should be protected ❤️

You seem to be implying sex and gender are the same thing, Poppy, if you think the difference is 'irrelevant'.

This conflation of sex and gender denies the trans existence.

@lavenderleopards

I queried the use of "birthing parent" and "non-birthing parent" in HR policies at my work, suggesting "mother or birthing parent" / "father or non-birthing parent" would be more truly inclusive, given that the vast majority of people surely prefer the terms mother/father.

I got a thanks but no thanks reply.

Can they define 'birthing parent'? Does it refer to a parent who is currently giving birth - and then they become the non-birthing parent when they've finished?

@lavenderleopards

I queried the use of "birthing parent" and "non-birthing parent" in HR policies at my work, suggesting "mother or birthing parent" / "father or non-birthing parent" would be more truly inclusive, given that the vast majority of people surely prefer the terms mother/father.

I got a thanks but no thanks reply.

What about adoptive parents? Or do they get a different policy?

Do you really think women who transition put ‘male’?

Well yes, they might, being biologically female people who identify as male.

Well done OP. I am self employed but have challenged my children’s schools and more organisations I can count on this. School have thankfully been receptive.

Re adoptive parents - they are simply the mother or father surely? Or there may well be a separate adoption policy.

Sometimes it does have its roots in gender being used as a synonym for sex but that is simply not appropriate nor acceptable in this day and age.

Well done again.

Sorry last two paragraphs in wrong order there

Well done OP. I have also queried the inclusion of the word gender rather than sex in inclusion policy. It is rather astounding that it is so very prevalent. My work place said the policy I queried is 10 years old and they would change it to reflect the actual protected characteristics. The misrepresentation of the law has been going on for a long time.

@Keke94LND Adoption policies are different from and separate from maternity policies. Only once it gets on to 'parental leave' or requesting flexible working do they join up again, but at this point who gave birth is irrelevant in either scenario.

I had to edit an article at work about women in industry. Thank you Caroline Criado Perez haha. I managed to get a few zingers in there...

It's great to hear that so many of us are speaking up. Hopefully, some of our colleagues will start wondering why we're making an issue of it and it could be a conversation starter.

@PoppyMuldrew

Whether the question is “What is your gender?” or “What is your sex?” is irrelevant. Do you really think women who transition put ‘male’? Gender ID is protected in law - and all characteristics that someone is born with in a fair and just society should be protected ❤️

I'm not aware of any reliable, peer-reviewed evidence that people are born with a "gender" or "gender identity". It sounds like you're suggesting that a person can be born with a female brain in a male body or vice versa. That's not correct.

Whatever people may feel or believe about sex and gender issues, the wording of the law is perfectly clear about all the protected characteristics. Companies and institutions are most unwise to be adding or deleting protected characterisitics or altering the exisiting wording.

It's clear that some - perhaps many - copanies and organisations took poor advice from lobby groups or charities with agendas, groups which were perhaps anticipating changes to the law that never came. It behoves every organsition to check the wording of its policies so as to accord with the law. Not doing so puts them at risk of being sued by anyone whose protected characteristic has been excluded. And if sex has been excluded or replaced by gender or gender identity, that leaves everyone male or female by sex unprotected!

Gender identity is nt aprotected characteristic in law: sex is and gender reassignment is.

I'm not aware of any reliable, peer-reviewed evidence that people are born with a "gender" or "gender identity"

Is it brith when you're sprinkled by the fairy dust? Or is it a gender-soul, bunged in along with the Catholic one at the 'moment of conception,' which is not even a medical thing.

I'm not at all brave, but did manage to have a conversation with a colleague about the importance of language. She was fully supportive of our woke org using language like "people who menstruate" and I put my arguments forward about language being important for everyone, not just trans identifying people. Other points too e.g. 43% of women not knowing what a cervix is, health language needing to be clear. I don't know if I convinced her but it went well and I think she considered my points. Obviously I listened to her too, but as they were all opinions I used to hold but changed my mind on, there was nothing new or interesting really.