Mandatory pronouns on work email signature

[SamW98]

Morning all

Can one of you ladies point me in the right direction of the wording I can use to fight against this? I do remember seeing links but just a quick reference will be appreciated

Basically my very laid back non political company is as taken over last year by a huge US corp and since then very bit of training is revolved around DEI and being told the ‘correct’ way to think. Email pronouns were rolled out on a voluntary basis with the vast majority of the UK based staff not partaking. This hasn’t gone down well with the big cheeses in the US and they’re bringing in an AI email tool where pronouns are a mandatory field.

Now this is 💯 a fight I’m prepared to take on and my entire team feel the same - none of us want this nonsense. So just really looking for wording to use to put on a team pushback against this unnecessary compelled crap.

Any links/wording/examples to quote would be very much appreciated - this really is a hill we’re all ready to die on. Thank you

cant link it as in a rush but the Yogyakarta Principles which is THE transgender rights document says in no 6 or 16 that this should not happen as it outs people who may not be ready. You can search on here for previous discussions. Basically, you outwoke them by showing they are being transphobic. Worked beautifully for me.

It worked for me by saying I wasn’t decided. I have no idea what an AI email tool might do though - maybe you tell the tool that you don’t want it and it will has a clever way of responding

https://freespeechunion.org/letter-objecting-to-the-home-office-asking-its-staff-to-state-their-pronouns-in-email-signatures/

Does this help? The FSU seem pretty switched on with regards to this matter and it includes a letter they sent out to another organisation. Obviously different countries have different legislation in place and it should be the responsibility of the organisation who now owns your business to be aware of this.

https://sex-matters.org/posts/updates/pronouns/

Also, I think that in the thickets of the Forstater appeal , it was apparent that a US company’s culture couldn’t override UK laws, specifically Equality Act. Sex Matters should be good as this US/UK crossover was at issue. And of course post Forstater you can argue on belief. Email signature is same as wearing or adhering to a particular practice. Respecting a belief is v different from compelling someone to follow it themselves

There is an absolute mountain of case law about US companies having to abide by the law of the country they are operating in - not just on this topic. They have form for not realising that, especially on hiring and firing practices.

Personally I would not go with this suggestion because while it may work, you are essentially lying to your employer. You're invoking something you don't believe in to get the result you want.

Your employer will likely clock this as the dishonesty that it is, because they're not stupid. Unless you genuinely are acting out of sensitivity towards gender-confused people who aren't ready to come out yet I suppose.

The better approach is the honest one, raising your genuine concerns and the law if necessary.

Sorry I don't have any positive advice here, but I don't think dishonestly 'outwoking' your HR department is the smart move here.

GC views are protected in law, they are breaking the law by demanding this.

I don't necessarily agree. I am completely gender critical and have several reasons for not being prepared to engage with this nonsense, but that doesn't mean I can't also recognise what a virtue-signalling hypocrisy it is for this reason. Forcing everyone to declare pronouns is not universally supportive of trans people.

Just wanted to say well done for being prepared to push back against this. Hope you manage to change the policy. You might want to contact/join the Free Speech Union for support.

You might be able to game the system in a more basic way - if you have to put pronouns in a box, like you have to put your postcode in an address box, can you not simply put a space or a full stop in the box so you satisfy the stupid system and don't get anything stupid on your email signature ?

Offer to use 'who, me?'

😂

Good work. They can’t win this. They’re US based, this is the U.K.

They need to do a bit more research about what they can and can’t do. Pronouns 🤢 are not mandatory.

How would they be able to tell? Surely they aren’t going to come back and suggest the OP couldn’t possibly be trans… as that would be transphobic

Indeed. What are they going to do, ask to see peoples genitals. As the old trans arguments go 🙄

Scratch the surface of gender woo and immediately, it’s unravellled. Because it’s nonsense, worse, lies.

In the short term use "I, me, mine".

Personally I would not go with this suggestion because while it may work, you are essentially lying to your employer. You're invoking something you don't believe in to get the result you want.

I'm GC, but I believe in the actual existence of trans people. And I don't see why they should be forced to either declare themselves or explicitly adopt pronouns linked to the corporeal sex that they hate.

I think there's a word for turning up in another country and attempting to force your culture and values onto them.

If you're still wondering, it's "colonialism".

From the Sex Matters link:

Do I have to “state my pronouns” at work?

No. There haven’t been any legal cases on this yet but organisations encouraging their employees to announce their pronouns are imposing the manifestation of a belief on them and can put people who don’t share the belief in gender-identity ideology at a disadvantage. It could even amount to indirect discrimination.

Refer them to that, for starters; do they really want to cause a discrimination case?

On Maya Forstater:

https://www.doyleclayton.co.uk/resources/news/forstater-v-cgd-europe-ors-maya-forstater-succeeds-employment-tribunal/

Gender critical beliefs are protected in the workplace Judgment has been received in one of the most important Employment Tribunal claims of recent years: Doyle Clayton client Maya Forstater has succeeded in showing that she was discriminated against on the basis of her gender critical beliefs, a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. This judgment establishes that gender critical beliefs are protected in the workplace.

Doyle Clayton partner Peter Daly, who has represented Ms Forstater throughout her litigation, said:

“This is an extremely important judgment. Maya Forstater’s successful appeal last year demonstrated that gender critical beliefs were in principle protected by the Equality Act and the European Convention on Human Rights. This judgment is the “proof of concept” of that principle, and shows that those legal protections are tangible and enforceable. Gender critical people cannot be discriminated against on the basis of their beliefs, and the courts will protect them where unlawful discrimination occurs.

https://www.jmw.co.uk/services-for-you/employment-law/blog/what-does-decision-forstater-v-cgd-mean-employers

What does this mean for employers?

This decision gives gender-critical beliefs the same legal protections as religious, environmental and ethical veganism philosophical beliefs. Therefore, anyone sharing these protected characteristic are protected from unlawful discrimination and harassment.

https://www.lewissilkin.com/en/insights/maya-forstater-wins-gender-critical-belief-claim

The Equality Act provides that it is unlawful to discriminate against someone because of a protected characteristic. “Religion or belief” is one of the nine specified protected characteristics. “Gender reassignment” and “sex” are also protected characteristics. The Forstater case has become the most prominent case on the potential conflict between “gender-critical beliefs” and the rights of transgender and non-binary people, which remains a highly challenging area for employers.

It's not compulsory where i work, but some colleagues do it.

One man has 'Your Highness', which i rather liked.

😂 I like him

I’ve always thought that, if I was ever forced to do this, I would use he/him on principle.

It’s about internal feelings, so who can argue?

Anyone sensible will continue to use the pronouns associated with my sex and anyone stupid enough to worry about these things will have to use the extra mental capacity that it takes to use the incorrect pronouns.

This but use the more exotic ones which use require even more brain capacity from your gullible colleagues. Zee/zirs etc. (I've always been tempted by the old English "thy/thine" 😂 at least those are for addressing 'one' directly!).

You could give your own reasons and then just add 'And of course looked at from another point of view it may be considered that being required to give pronouns outs trans people who may not be ready.'