Newsletter from school

[Grade8piano]

Hi there,

We’ve received a newsletter from school, highlighting LGBT month and exhorting us to not presume pronouns, and use they/them instead. Telling us to use the word partner and not husband / wife.

It goes on to tell us all about cisgender, (including how to pronounce it!), and that we can use the word queer to describe people, and on and on.

Should I say something or just let it lie?

This just gets worse, it’s all fronted by ‘The Proud Trust’ which is selling their wares in school.

I’ve had a look into this organisation and just ugh: www.transgendertrend.com/proud-trust-nothing-proud/

In what context are they prohibiting husband and wife and favouring partner? Are they assuming all parents are paired, and discriminating against singletons and polyamorists?

Seriously, are some communications where neutral language is a very good idea, to avoid sexism and heteronormativity. But it doesn't sound like that's what this is about.

@ViaGellia

Depends, though. 'Partner' is the accurate term for a life partner or co-habiting person who isn't married. Being married is a legal status.

'Partner' might also have a legal status if you're in a civil partnership. I refer to my significant other as my 'partner' but if we enter into a civil partnership I probably wouldn't start calling him 'civil partner' except where it's legally relevant.

Saying "I'm meeting my civil partner for lunch" just sounds odd. Maybe it will become a thing though.

The only person I ever met who was in a civil partnership referred to her 'wife'. Same-sex marriage didn't otherwise exist at the time, so they were as good as married in the eyes of anyone bar a pedantic lawyer.

@ArabellaScott

Send them Yogyakarta Principle #6.

Tell them 'cis' is considered offensive.

Tell them 'queer' is considered offensive.

Ask if they have any idea about what 'queer theory' is based on?

Yup all of the above. How dare they dictate?

I’d also ask if they spend as much time, effort (and money) into say disability awareness, starving children in Syria and Yemen, air pollution, etc etc etc. and ask why they focus on this one pony?

It goes on to tell us all about cisgender, (including how to pronounce it!)

Not: Kiss-gender. Sees-gender. Siz-gen-durr.

That’s not the way I pronounce it. Rhymes with ‘pollocks’.

I despair at this. Surely 'spouse' is better than 'partner'? Spouse implies a married/civilly joined person, of either sex; whereas 'partner' could be anything at all.

And I just read today that Scotland is going ahead with changes such that expressing the truth i.e. that there are just 2 sexes, and you can't change which you are., is now a criminal offence.

A bit childish but I think I would use husband/wife/eldest daughter/youngest son etc etc all the more.

Tbh I use those a lot already - otherwise it's a long litany while I go through all the kids names til I reach the right one 😂

Maybe you could suggest it was excluding people with poor memory 😂

The only person I ever met who was in a civil partnership referred to her 'wife'. Same-sex marriage didn't otherwise exist at the time, so they were as good as married in the eyes of anyone bar a pedantic lawyer.

I know quite a few people who use husband and wife whilst not being legally married but in a civil partnership . We all still use husband/wife for their partners to indicate that a long lasting legal and romantic partnership exists.
I mean, does anyone verify the legal married status of people who use husband or wife for their partners or do you just go 'ok' and move on? We are talking school communication here, not legally binding contracts where marital status has a big impact.

[quote DomesticatedZombie]Flags for Scottish govt buildings are strictly timetabled. It's roughly equal time given between alternate Rainbow and ones for the birthdays of the Royal Family. Oddly enough.

www.gov.scot/publications/flag-flying/[/quote]
That does seem weird.

The town closest to me had a huge flag controversy about 15 years ago and et out what flags could go up. It seems random too - it seem to be whatever groups had popular causes associated with them at the time.

Appalling

Tell them that the c-word (cis) is highly offensive to a number of individuals and they should refrain from using it.

Also if people are not to assume pronouns, should people not assume that people have two legs etc? Why were trans people not bothered by pronoun usage all of five years ago? Is it because the people who want different pronouns aren't actually trans?

I have told people to their face - “you may call me a ct but if you call me c we are really going to have a big problem.”

I wouldn’t say that though.

Many LGB people find “queer” offensive. Would they recommend the ‘reclaimed’ N word? Of course not. “Cis” is connected with a particular political ideology - why are they dictating politics to people? They should be neutral. As for pronouns, I’d suggest they get their heads out of their virtue-signalling arses and look around at the real problems in the world. FGM? Poverty? Child brides? War zones? No, no, we must concentrate on vacuous virtue-signalling.

TBF they’re probably just regurgitating crap they’ve been told by some LGBTQIAFGS+ shysters.

Younger people seem to find the word queer okay. Anyone around when it was a common insult tends not to.

Pronouns are SO difficult for many autistics with language deficits.

I was told by an anti woman poster recently that I 'obviously don't know many gay men or lesbians' when I said that some find the term queer offensive as they had had it shouted at them as a slur. Apparently I was talking crap.

Absolute shite obviously but shows how deeply the ideology is entrenched.

Thank you SO much, please keep it coming. I am speaking with school about this and want to be as prepared as possible.

‘The Proud Trust’ is apparently the originator of the ‘dice game’, apologies for the Daily Mail link: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8680831/amp/Schools-urged-teach-children-young-13-intimate-sex-acts-using-dice-game.html

What is school thinking associating with this claptrap?!??

Some info on Proud Trust from a recent blog here: jamesesses.substack.com/p/education-or-indoctrination

Extract:

This type of material suggests to young children that just because they are gender atypical, they may be trans or non-binary. It is extremely regressive and has the potential to be hugely detrimental to their overall wellbeing and mental health. It can also be seen as quasi-encouragement of identifying as trans or non-binary, given the way in which those identities are seemingly celebrated.

Further example of this encouragement can be seen in a resource pack regarding ‘LGBT+ History Month’, including a page containing all of the relevant multi-coloured flags of identities, ranging from ‘asexual’ to ‘pansexual’ to ‘non-binary’. The boxes for ‘cis’ and ‘straight’ have no flag whatsoever – they are simply an empty white box. As a young child, I wonder what they might be drawn to – the vibrant and colourful boxes of trans identity or the boring and invisible boxes of ‘cis’ and ‘straight’?

and re LGBT History month a year ago here:
safeschoolsallianceuk.net/2021/02/23/lgbt-history-month-school-packs/

Also the other protected characteristics, do they get flags/weeks/days?

They did in another establishment I am thinking of, assiduously. Responsibilities for promotion and events were split between a couple of roles that hinged on HR and staff wellbeing (but had more experience and identification of some characteristics than others). However, branching out to look further into weeks or months for closely aligned causes, but ones that fell outside the well-trodden highway of protected characteristics...that was discouraged and not thought to be a good use of energy.