NHS England staff have safe spaces for aromantic and BI+ colleagues to talk about feelings - is there one for biological women?

[IwantToRetire]

The NHS is allowing five subgroups of people with various gender and sexual orientations to meet and discuss personal issues in “safe spaces” during the working day.

The five groups involved in the scheme include asexual and aromantic, bi+, non-binary, rainbow family, and <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.is/o/WtT2D/www.telegraph.co.uk/transgender/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">trans.

Aromantic is described as an “umbrella term to encompass aromantic, grey-romantic, and demiromantic”.

Bi+ describes people with “a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards more than one gender including, but not limited to, bisexual, pan, queer, and some other non-monosexual and non-monoromatic identities”.

Meanwhile demisexual describes people who say they need to experience a close emotional bond with someone before they can become sexually attracted to them.

Describing the meetings as safe spaces is understood to have irked some NHS staff who are battling for women to have the right to single-sex spaces including toilets, showers, and hospital wards.

One source told the Telegraph: “Safe spaces are really important but not if you are a woman who wants to use toilets or changing rooms without men who identify as female there with you.”

They had raised concerns with human resources about the behaviour of their colleague, who was not undergoing medical treatment to transition, but were told that they needed to be “re-educated”.

NB this is NOT the whole Telegraph, just selected paragraphs!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/07/nhs-england-safe-spaces-aromantic-bi-colleagues-feelings/

Can be read in full here https://archive.is/WtT2D

I don't think that's the reason they don't have time to eat or go to the loo, but I don't think it's wise to exacerbate the problem by allowing staff to take time out of the working day to discuss their personal issues.

It makes me think of back when I worked in a pub for minimum wage and half the bar staff who didn't already smoke took up smoking because the manager understood the need to have a break to get your nicotine fix but not for any other reason.

Doctors and nurses who desperately need half an hour to eat or take a crap may well feel that the only way they can get management to take their needs seriously is if they start identifying as queer or non binary or demisexual.

So people at work, their friends and family members can all meet in a private place, to talk about who they're attracted to and why?

Re the more true of women than men comment:

Seems to me this is just more of the men's rights movement. To make what is almost certainly true more for women than men - having an emotional bond as being necessary for sexual attraction - to be not seen as a normal default but as just one of those subsets of sexuality.

Back to people as animals/across evolution: women are left holding the baby, so makes sense to be interested in a deeper connection with the potential father. Less chance of him buggering off afterwards.

What happens if the trigger warning is triggering? What if you find the whole concept of trigger warnings triggering?*

*not for serious traumatising stuff like sexual assault but a tw because you're going to mention something that should be banal like biological sex just trivialises the whole thing.

How do such fragile people work in healthcare where presumably they’re exposed to blood, gore, shit and worse on an everyday basis?

Indeed.

I think that’s if you have a family member who identifies as demisexual or whatever, you can go along to the group and be educated about it by the organisers so that you can better support your family member. At least I assume so - it would be weird to have non-employees attending workplace meetings during the working day.

Is this really what our taxes should be going on?

The "caring" sex working in the "caring" profession can just do one according to these groups.

My BP rises reading about this utter shite. I wonder if, after all this wasting of funds, will the NHS be still there to sort me out.

If it wasn't so depressing it would be funny.

Meanwhile DD who has PCOS and horrible periods has to cope with a unisex toilet at her workplace.

It's all weird tho. Why would a grown adult, working for the NHS, need their parent or guardian to come to regular meetings at their work to talk about their sexual preferences, and those of their work colleagues?

Do adults even have 'guardians'?

Once upon a time there was the staff cafeteria or the staff bar where people talked with other staff members about who they fancied.

I've realised from this thread that - aha! - I am coming out as trans: I'm demisexual. I can't and won't do one-night stands. Hurrah the progress pride flag for me!!

Well.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8ewdzgnx1yo