Forstater and Bailey outcomes making waves in the HR world

[Metabigot]

Our solicitor came for a training session and whilst most of the content was not trans related he dropped in at the end the Bailey and Forstater rulings and advised us to be aware and update policies etc. He said it's going to be interesting times. Especially if a trans and GC both feel discriminated by the other.

I don't think he gets gender critical as he seemed to think it (Gc views) would be abhorrent for some (trans) but acknowledged the need to account for GC views as protected characteristics. And I confirmed all PCs are equal under the Equality Act.

I can't say how much difference these rulings are making in the HR/employment sector. At last we can speak openly.

Maya and Alison so brave to put themselves through this. Thank you both if you read this.

I always raise it as an issue in equality training, along with pronouns on emails, toilet facilities etc etc

It is always particularly interesting to see the reaction with public sector clients..

We are. So it's now ow endorsed by our legal team even more ammo for policy changes etc.

Im wondering how the NHS HR departments will deal with this? Could be interesting.
The amount of hassle my nurse friend got because she queried why she needed to change to a rainbow lanyard (she had worn her snoopy one for years). They sent the equality and diversity officer to grill her, and they really did. I’ve got to hand it to her though she just kept repeating “snoopy is very inclusive” !

I always raise it as an issue in equality training, along with pronouns on emails, toilet facilities etc etc

It would be good to see that included in training within the NHS, NICE, NIHR and a slew of health and social care related organisations.

Well they can't ignore gender now if they want yo be risk averse.

Dunno about the NHS but this seems lae8has been my 'in'

One girl didn't like it but she's come round a bit.

@MMissyB1 I think that I love your nurse friend 😀

Ah don't let them take the rainbow! I wear rainbow stuff a lot because I like rainbows and won't let stonewall commandeer it.

Means more rainbow stuff to buy...

NHS staff should wear NHS lanyards and no rainbow rubbish. I'd be unhappy if I was dealt with by someone wearing one of the wretched things as, to me, rainbow = Stonewall = political lobby group. Totally wrong for the NHS. And the police. And all the rest of them.

I wear a rainbow lanyard because I support gay rights. Don’t let Stonewall ruin that.

@Donotgogentle

I support gay rights too, but politics needs to be kept out of healthcare.

For NHS professionals treating all without discrimination is literally in professional codes of conduct. Why do they need lanyards to show that they prioritise one particular group? I would say wearin g the rainbow goes against my professional code.

The NHS are going to have to have a rethink - staff trans policies mean a transitioning person uses the changing room of choice according to gender.

Are gay rights under threat? Why do they require everyone's support? Since legal same-sex marriage they have the same, and near-universally accepted, rights.

Perhaps NHS could have lanyard signifying black women's rights to the same outcomes in childbirth as white women in UK?

The whole point of NHS is to treat all people as equals. I dont understand why they want to champion some as particularly important- everyone is important! I suppose some staff will hold personal opinions that don't treat everyone equally but then if they behave unprofessionally that's the thing to pick them up on. We treat nice people, nasty people, criminals, victims, all colours, all abilities, all sexualities, everyone regardless of self described identity. So I find the idea that I need a rainbow badge to show how inclusive I am offensive tbh

If NHS staff are given lanyards then they should reflect important relevant issues like improving the outcome for black mothers as PP said or disability issues eg for people with learning disabilities who had double the covid death rate. However, they would both require hard work and money - infinitely easier to do some cost-free virtue signalling with a rainbow that requires no more effort than swapping over a name badge.

If people want to know more about the NHS position I suggest a browse through the FOI site WhatDoTheyKnow.
Someone has been digging.
The Rainbow Badge Project is funded by NHS England (£220k this financial year, £70k last fy).
Administered by the LGBT Foundation with a little help from stonewall.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/costoffthenhssrainbowbadgee_pr?nocache=incoming-2091100#incoming-2091100

More about how it works on this one.

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/870748/response/2080857/attach/5/Induction%20pack.docx?cookie_passthrough=1

I'm a lesbian and I'm one of many LGB people who now flinch when we see the rainbow symbol because while it may be attached to a person who's genuinely LGB friendly it's just as likely to be worn by a homophobe who's anxious to seem otherwise. Or someone who's just thinks rainbow lanyards are cool.

Good point @Pluvia

This.

Me too 😀

And this is excellent news!

What a shocking, abhorrent waste of NHS funds. I’m appalled 🤯

I like this bit about lanyards. I think employers will end up depoliticising lanyards etc. I had an informal complaint made at work about me wearing the woman definition. The organisation that sold them was perceived as transphobic. I'll be going back to HR with this info. I get my own made!

Personally I don't think the workplace, particularly if that workplace is the NHS, is the place to show political/idealistic affiliations. In the NHS lanyards should with be NHS or the hospital trust ones. And all badges should be banned apart from name badges.

In my particular work area I am not allowed to wear a lanyard for infection control reasons and have a clip in my pocket with my ID cards.

How many times have we seen staff pursuing a case because they have been told they can't wear their cross around their neck? Without going into the merits of any one case I think the no jewellery uniform rule is sensible but if people are particularly attached to their cross it should be possible to wear it under uniform and out of sight. Rainbow lanyards and pronoun badges etc are intended to be seen and some staff proudly display an array of badges which I think is ridiculous.