Scared I'm going to be outed at work

[Scarystuffhelp]

Argh I'm so scared. We got sent an anonymous survey to fill out at work. It was full of gender woo and where possible I made some (very measured and reasonable) comments about only recording gender identity and not sex, and not wanting to have to use the label cisgender. The survey made clear it was entirely anonymous and would not be linked to individuals.

One of the people who must have carried out the survey is discussing the results on our intranet. He has copy and pasted some of my comments and basically tried to tear them to shreds in the comments (using absolutely nonsense arguments of course like if you haven't had your chromosomes tested you don't know your sex). Loads of people have piled on agreeing with him and saying how awful and bigoted it is and that's it's disgusting etc.

I'm now really scared that I'm going to be outed at work and being made a hate target. They're all saying "poor trans people" etc but I didn't say anything at all about trans people, just that the survey should record sex not gender identity and that I didn't want to have to label myself as cisgender. But the vitriol is so scary.

I'm pretty sure that the responses are anonymous and unless the IT team went to great lengths to search for my IP address (which I'm sure they can't) it can't be traced back to me. But I'm still sitting here shaking and so scared.

I'm thinking of emailing HR to complain that it's unethical to pick apart an anonymous survey response publicly and encourage hateful comments but then it would point the finger in my direction.

Argh why are these people SO full of hatred (and stupidity)?

You can make a “burner” gmail address in about 2 minutes, if that’s of any help.

Quoting this to make sure it gets seen - it is such useful advice.

I agree with the pp who said Essentially he's creating a hostile and intimidating environment - not just for women and anyone who doesn't agree with gender nonsense - but also for anyone who wants to answer a workplace questionnaire honestly. His actions bring the organisation into disrepute.

I'd be inclined to contact HR (not anonymously; unless they're really stupid/reckless and actually want a fight they won't do anything) pointing this out.

I would recommend forwarding your screenshots to HR and expressing a concern that the behaviour is intimidating and bullying. Whilst you don't know who wrote the comments, someone in your workplace did and they are now being attacked for information genuinely provided in an anonymous survey.

There has to be a clever way to challenge this unacceptable behaviour without outing yourself. We just have to work out what it is. Maybe use a third party such as ACAS or the Free Speech Union to make the point, so that you can remain anonymous.
Maybe at some point you could say ''I won't be filling in any more surveys, given that time someone's comments were made public. It was unsettling to read the nasty personal comments made about them. It made me wonder if I've ever been talked about that way behind my back.''

Creating an address like [email protected] should do it. I’ve received a number like that in a work capacity. Always took them v seriously. Remember they might want to communicate with you so do monitor account and consider how best to engage further.

Or a one use web one in 2 seconds

https://maildrop.cc

:)

Thanks all I have sent an anonymous email explaining that I'm a concerned employee. I haven't heard back yet but I think the post has been taken down, I certainly can't find it any more.

well done!! really brave, really important

I made a complaint once about someone moaning about 'terfs' in a work channel. This was about 2018 when things were still really bad before the Forstater judgment so I did it anonymously.

Was very satisfied to see the comment was taken down and the commenter posting again moaning about being spoken to about his language. Apparently women who believe sex exists are not worthy of basic politeness but luckily HR didn't agree with him (a beardy, not trans bloke naturally).

Well done! That's really awesome. I know the anxiety and worry that this shit can cause and it takes a lot of guts to raise it even anonymously. 💪💪💪

Also really encouraging that it looks like the post has been taken down. This could be a real shift in the right direction for your organisation 🤞🤞🤞🤞

And should be replaced wit one saying everyones views on the judgement are allowed

One thing to bear in mind is that most of your colleagues will actually agree with you, even if they don’t speak out. There are recent polls that show that the majority of our country doesn’t support trans ideology. In fact, I bet there are quite a few of your colleagues who are grateful for you and really pleased that someone has spoken out. They probably also think that the guy who has posted your comments is a knob.

💐💐💐 well done!

This

There was a supposedly private survey at a charity I worked for on something of a divisive nature. I suggested dealing with the here and now rather than railing at the decision.

Then came a staff meeting where the CEO spent most of her slot shouting and swearing over it. I stood up and started my position again, 7 others followed suit and quite a few came up after to say thanks for speaking out.

Sometimes it takes 1 person to speak truth to power for others to find and lend their voice. I'm not the most eloquent but I'm often the one who speaks first and that allows those who phrase it better to come forward.

So well done OP, you might find later on you are not alone and others may also have made complaints too I proud you did send the email, others will have been worrying about it too.

Utterly brilliant. I’ll bet it was scary as hell - immense respect to you for doing that 💜💚

Well done, OP. It's great there are people like you in these organisations that are prepared to call this out. I'll bet there are many more who agree with you but would be too afraid to say anything, which is unsurprising given the hostile environment that has been created.

OP, well done. That should alert them to the issue.

Report to HR

It’s not a protected characteristic - it can fall under “philosophical beliefs” just like the belief in Christianity - but only if certain criteria are met, but not recognising people’s gender reassignment or preferred pronouns is not one of the criteria!

don't go around thinking you can discriminate and use terms like “gender woo” in public

I think that’s why your worried and probably why your colleague felt ok to expose you

this whole thread is an echo chamber of discrimination and privilege

*You’re

You're correct - gender identity is not a protected characteristic - in fact finding a rational definition for it defeats most people. What will get you into trouble in the work place is creating a hostile and bullying environment for those who know that sex is binary, want legal single sex changing and toilet facilities in the workplace and who respect the law of the land.

Extracting legitimate opinions from an allegedly confidential staff survey and trashing them on the staff intranet creates an intimidating environment for employees who have been asked for opinions in a workplace survey.

I refer you to countless employment tribunals as evidence of the reputational damage and hundreds of thousands of £££ in compensation that organisations incur when that allowing unhinged transactivists in the workplace to bully their colleagues in precisely this way.
See Jo Phoenix, Rachel Meade, Maya Forstater as examples

Glad to hear the posts have been taken down. You may not be the only one to have complained. Well done for emailing.
I hope you got screenshots and you can wait to see what happens next… Sounds like you are anonymous but I’d expect anyone on the intranet who posted comments should be spoken to. The guy who posted the results and lead the “witch hunt” should maybe get a warning? And some note should go up on the internet about tolerance/views not the company’s own… HR should tell your anonymous email address what has been done in broad terms. If they don’t do the above and you’re feeling brave your anonymous could maybe ask why they are seeming to condone a hostile work environment? You’d have to be feeling brave tho!?

Oh well done Scarystuffhelp!
Now how about a usernamechange, something like 'OKSoNotExactlyAHeroLikeMayaOrSandieButNotSoScaryAndHaveDoneMyBit'
-unless its already taken of course😄