Suggestions for feedback on training session at work re gender reassignment

[SirChenjins]

To be fair, the trainer did acknowledge it’s a contentious subject but then went on to talk about the rise in transphobia and the feels of the poor trans people - without discussing the wider implications for single sex spaces, sports and so on and acknowledging the impact that this is having on women in particular.

I’ve been asked to give anonymous feedback on the training - how can I address this lack of balance in a positive, constructive manner?

was it the scottish transgender alliance by any chance? The 'lovely' (not) James.

Its interesting that my former employer has gone from the top 10 in the stonewall list to not being mentioned on the list at all. Wonder if their equality team has finally realised they are the equality team not the trans team.

You could feedback, if it is truly anonymous feedback (maybe do a incognito page), that the training misinterpreted the Equality Act and failed to clarify the difference between the two protected characteristics of 'sex' and 'gender reassignment'. Also, did they allow for questions? You should highlight that too - either no time or too little time, preventing the session from being balanced and providing a diverse range of opinions.

No, internal training - but it was in Scotland!

There was time for questions but everyone just sat quietly - I imagine no-one wanted to put their head above the parapet. I certainly didn’t and I’m usually quite happy to speak out at training courses. When you the training misinterpreted the Equality Act - in what way?

Oh and yes, feedback will definitely be anonymous.

What I find particularly irritating about this type of training is that the trainer tells you how should think - we live in a society where we can think what we want and the zealot nature of this training is totally unacceptable

There was an online 'discussion' about something similar at work and it was encouraging to see how many people spoke out about they were not comfortable with a mix & match toilet depending on how you were feeling that day, including the men!

But the overall official message was about inclusion etc and we should all just get along and bask in the gender euphoria.

Perhaps more discussion needs to be had about fairness in all this. The needs of one minority group cannot override others. But it is also about being respectful - there would be less of an issue if transpeople treated women with respect but experiences demonstrate that this is not always the case. So how does disrespectful and threatening behaviour towards women get handled without being called a TERF and have death threats aimed at them. Anyone expressing any concern is silenced - bit like Hitler did with the Nazi ideology in fact. Right now it is suck it up aren't we lucky to have them.

I also strongly believe gender has no place in the workplace - and should be left at the door unless it is directly related to your role. I just want to do my job and not be slapped around the face by other people gender identity etc.

I work in a role that sources training for my employer (hence name change as outing etc). I would recommend bringing it back to the law and the Equality Act - so focus on 'neutral' legal facts rather than anything that could be dismissed as a difference in opinions. So, is this training providing good value and actually helping your organisation manage organisational risk around the Equality Act?

I'd pick some examples where the trainer has conflated 'trans' and the legally protected characteristic of gender reassignment and how this conflation presents risk when placed against the protected characteristic of sex. I'd highlight examples where employers have created organisational risk (eg Forstater and Bailey) by following Stonewall 'law' rather than the actual law and the associated organisational risk to your organisation as an employer/service provider, if employees start putting the advice' from this training into action.

These are all really helpful, thank you. I’m very much looking forward to providing my honest feedback anonymously, hopefully future training will be better informed as a result - although I doubt it sadly.

the trainer did acknowledge it’s a contentious subject which is correct it is as it tramples over women's rights but all feedback has to be anonymous because this movement has made it so hard for any objections to be raised or rational discussions to be had.

That for me says it all -the training was just one sided and represents the viewpoints of just one group and no one felt they could say anything in the meeting to contract the viewpoints.

Over my cold dead body will I be 'trained' by these try-hard indoctrinators. It's the sort of thing my employers would shoehorn into their endless team building days.

If I see this on the agenda I'm simply not going.

Sick and tired of all of it. As regards feedback, it would be a waste of good pixels.

No, I do want to give feedback. Apologies, I should have clarified that it was part of a wider training session - it wasn’t a whole day on gender reassignment, it was a section of the whole day of that makes sense. That particular part of the course was very one-sided and I want to highlight that in the feedback.

I would raise the negative impact on free speech of these trainings. People don’t feel they can speak openly anymore because the trainings make it clear how the workplace want them to think.

I would also ask when they will have training on sex as a protected characteristic and misogyny. Since the rights of people with either characteristic are in conflict, they should offer that as as training too.

i would also ask how this relates to your work, if there is no clear link.

What’s your field of work and how relevant to your field of work is knowing about “gender reassignment “? I’d use that as my starting point. And I would be frank rather than pussy foot around the issue.

I’m going to be very vague and say NHS..don’t want to say anything more in case it outs me in some way.

I would also ask when they will have training on sex as a protected characteristic and misogyny. Since the rights of people with either characteristic are in conflict, they should offer that as as training too

Ooh I like that - there was no mention of this at all.

At any point did the trainer define what exactly constitutes a trans person? Thought not.
Did they mention any mantras like TWAW because if they did, you can criticise how that flies in the face of reality and is Orwellian: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

Ah, I see. In that case I'd not hold back on some snarky comment that they seem to be forgetting to include the other 8 characteristics which are protected under the EA. And, indeed, which of these you're to declare on all outgoing correspondence as a matter of course.

I would also ask them to clarify whether any laws they've quoted are the actual law, not the law according to what Stonewall would like it to be. We've seen numerous instances where this fundamental 'misunderstanding' (for which quote lie) has caused serious workplace issues and litigation in the past. It might be useful to point out that recent cases (Bailey, Forstater) have been resolved in the employees' favour.

In these circumstances, making those objections might possibly make me feel better, but I doubt there's a snowball's chance in hell they will actually listen.

I'm interested to read your update and see that they did indeed manoeuvre this nonsense into a longer all-day training session. That's precisely the tactic I suspect my employer would use to ensure people who don't buy into Stonewall's operant conditioning will attend.

Crafty buggers, aren't they?

If they are talking about "transphobia" did they actually define the term and justify what they were saying about it?

Or do they just assume that people having a different perspective is automatically transphobia?

No, no definition of transphobia (natch), just stories of how difficult it is for trans people while there’s so much animosity towards them, and how stunning and brave it is for them to come out (or whatever it is they do when they decide they’re feeling a woman that day).

• Feeling like a woman

Some people seem to think that news coverage of the issues is equivalent to transphobia, or wanting single sex spaces, so possible area of bias.

I wouldn't be surprised if real harassment has actually increased. There are maybe more trans people around for one thing.

The problem is in many workplaces, training on sex and misogyny is done in the context of TWAW. So therefore misogyny applies to them too, and it’s not about prejudice against biological women.

I’m sure there’s more harassment - but that’s on both sides. The harassment, loss of livelihood, the forced sharing of single sex spaces and of losing places in elite sports to males that women are subjected to and the impact of that wasn’t covered at all. It was all about the terrible impact the current situation is having on trans people (and by that I mean TW - none of the examples the trainer gave related to TM).