Possibly just outed myself as GC at work

[crunchermuncher]

I work in a large NHS trust. A menopause policy has been developed by HR and circulated for comment.

I was pleased about this development, until I clapped eyes on it. It talks about cis people, doesn't mention sex and explicitly includes transwomen having side effects from their "HRT" (Yes, I know! they get more space than trans men, who actually experience menopause).

I sent a carefully crafted reply that focuses on the importance of clear language, and refers to other health organisations who have approached the topic differently (ie not centring men). I have focused on potential risks of their approach, not just had a whinge.

I am now steeling myself for fall out!

Its ridiculous that I should feel this way for pointing out that sex matters in healthcare but we all know what's likely to ensue. But having been asked to reply I couldn't in conscience keep silent.

Please send me some encouragement!

What I don't understand is why can't we have 4 categories- women, men, trans women and trans men. That's exactly what they are. They own the term trans when they want to say that people are transphobic or anti trans but don't want to actually accept that are trans rather than biologically woman

Or even easier, two categories, women,men. Because glory be, that is the way it has been since amoebas stopped doing it for themselves.

@viques well absolutely! But I was aiming for a compromise. I suppose trans do want to just have two categories but they want to be included in the ones that don't fit

Oh we’ve had a loads of shit pumped out today at work too.

Wasn’t by HR, actually by the E&D team (self lead) - not even sure it has been proofed by HR before being sent.

A glossary from stonewall. Using gender rather than sex of course.
the old “gender you were assigned at birth” - it’s honestly embarrassing at this point.

I imagine they haven’t even considered that stonewall is being dumped left right and centre.

I’ve already made a list of my issues with the new EDI team - failed to even acknowledge disability awareness month in Nov/Dec, failed to acknowledge Racial Equality week this week… I’m waiting to see if they acknowledge IWD next month or if they will somehow shoehorn TW into the narrative to that as well.

Unfortunately I am known gobshite at work so rather than jumping in, I’m quietly watching how it unfolds so that I can have a strong case of objection and not be seen as just the usual loudmouth spouting off (95% sure this is how I’m viewed)

Because trans people (or the loudest ones) don’t want that. They want to be viewed by the “gender” they align with.
That particular argument falls down of course when you bring in non binary. If we were to accept both “you can choose your gender” and “gender is a spectrum” then we’d actually have about 7000 genders, not two. That’s the stupidity of it.

Thats why the important part is sex not gender. There are two sex categories and 99% of people fit into one of them.

Id happily have 4, but I’m not trans so I can’t say if that works for them? I don’t think so, accordingly to India Willoughby (shudder)

Men, women, footnote with disclaimer: For the purposes of this brochure, the word woman includes x, y, z. Just like the BBC does on migration articles regarding its terminology (migrant vs refugee.) Then have a separate section/brochure for TM and the specifics of early menopause for them.

That's the way to tackle this - whether in the NHS, education or anywhere else. The pointless EDI staff always excitedly focus on the queer theory side of this with all the other protected characteristics being ignored. They need calling out for this every single time.

Good on you, OP. Lack of clarity in medical settings kills.

Who the fuck comes up with the idea of choosing a bloke as menopause champion? It's mind boggling. As if I'd want to go and talk to a random male about menopause related issues!

The sort of person who appointments a bloke to menstruation coordinator, though that one looked mostly like nepotism.

That an extremely tiny group is prioritised over everyone else is truly startling when you think about it. Even if transgender and nonbinary identifying individuals who get menopause were one percent of all this would be shocking. But they are less than that.

The enormous majority is just expected to relinquish its words and its identities to benefit that tiny minority, and no attempt to explain why this is horrible is seen as anything but bigotry.

It is extremely weird to live in this era.

To be fair, there are a couple of lines included in the draft about trans men and early menopause. I highlighted this as a positive in my feedback, as they may need support and this may well get overlooked.

But - way more space given to trans women.

maddy68 · Yesterday 13:50

But if you seem too aggressive with your stance. People stop listening and become defensive instead.

That's exactly the case with the transw side, they're nasty, aggressive and hectoring and most people have had enough of it.

Sex Matters have a leaflet on our rights at work: sex-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GC-rights-at-work-home-print.pdf

An update on this: I have finally received a response.

It seems they have taken on some of my feedback but not all. Which is better than nothing I guess!

They have removed some but sadly not all references to cis.

They have clarified some of the language but shied away from adopting the sex based language that the British Menopause Society use.

They keep going on about including trans men, but I actually praised their inclusion of this group. I objected to including trans women as they do not and cannot experience menopause and this confuses the issues. They have actually addressed this too by removing 'HRT' being used to mean cross sex hormones as used by trans women - which is totally not the same thing (and is deeply insulting to many middle aged women)!

Happily though, they have addressed the way they conduct impact assessments - they previously only collected sex which was self ID. They are now collecting sex and gender separately - although haven't clarified whether sex means biological or self ID, but this is an important start.

Baby steps, but the trajectory is good.

Important steps - well done!

Well done. Importantly they now know that they have someone in the workplace who is aware, watching and ready to challenge!

What's GC?

Gender critical, ie people who understand that humans cannot change their sex.

GC = gender- critical - people who believe that sex exists and does matter sometimes, and if you feel you have a gender identity that's fine, but not everyone does, and society should not be divided by gender identity where sex would be more appropriate (if at all).

Many also believe that gender identity is based on harmful patriarchal stereotypes that aren't backed up by any data.

Well done OP. Important to have the conversations.

Good work @crunchermuncher !

Well done OP, keep up the good work. If you haven't already reviewed other policies it's probably worth a look, especially if your Trust has or had anything to do with Stonewall.

I might DM you if you if that's ok...

Thanks all 😊

Well done 👏

@twanmever "I'd hazard a guess that the silent majority of women will be in agreement with you"

I don't disagree with this point, but I'd like to add that if the silent majority spoke up, they wouldn't need to feel the way OP does.

Well done OP. The fact that "gender critical" is even a term, blows my mind.

Oh, and if trans women actually want in on the menopause too, well, eff me sideways... I'm not even sure whether to be offended or amused at that, tbh.

Words fail me !