Trans Awareness training

[ShinyHappyTits]

My organisation (heavily left wing, totally captured by gender issues) have sent us all a breezy email asking us to attend this training delivered by Gendered Intelligence. Weren't they heavily criticised in the Cass report?

Trans awareness training-fine. But I know that if I go, it's going to be provocative and use emotive terms that most likely aren't compliant with the law and I won't be able to help myself. I can't believe this is still happening.

At no point have they offered training on how to be allies to disabled people or the elderly. It just gets my goat that this tiny, tiny group of people is singled out for special treatment when there are elderly people in my borough who don't switch the heating on any more and that goes completely ignored.

Gendered intelligence were responsible for men being housed in women’s prisons.

is it an option not to attend?

God it's just going to be a day of inaccuracies, bad science, misrepresented stats and baiting people to give the wrong answers to questions so they can embarrass them to "educate" everyone. I think I'd be tempted to take a day off. In fact I think I'd be tempted to organise everyone to do a mass walkout in protest if you've got enough people around you who would stand with you.

At no point have they offered training on how to be allies to disabled people or the elderly.

Ask for it. I did and my company has ran session on those issues.

Trans awareness training? You can't miss them.

Employers buy our time and if it’s a working day, and doesn’t conflict with your contract or the law, then it would be wise to go.

Others in your position have attended and have used it as a springboard to open dialogue with their employer about this type of training. They have asked whether similar trainings focusing on other protected characteristic are to follow, and if not, doesn’t this reflect detriment to those groups. You can also follow up with questions about the accuracy of elements that don’t appear to you to align with the law, stating you were careful not to raise this at the training in order to protect the organisations brand with the training provider.

If you can approach it all with genuine curiosity, and communicate with this tone - there is every chance you will sow some seeds. It would be great if some of the love and care shown by these organisations to the T could be shared with disabled people, older people etc.

Just zone out and don't participate. Waste of time but it gives you a day off work to just sit there and do nothing.

I wouldn't go, it would just raise my blood pressure.

Unless it's going to damage your career/jeopardise your job, I think you should engage in active pushback rather than just go along with it.

I can't say what I do as it would be instantly outing but there would be no repercussions to my not going. Even the tone of the email is making me clench my teeth
'Followng the recent Supreme Court ruling, a number of organizations are already adopting discriminatory and exclusionary policy towards trans people'

I feel I need to go so at least someone pushes back on their shit.

'Followng the recent Supreme Court ruling, a number of organizations are already adopting discriminatory and exclusionary policy towards trans people'

Ask them for examples.

And follow @Brainworm's excellent advice.

That is a ridiculous email! I think go to the training and insist on answers and explanations on what they mean. Especially, what do they mean by "exclusionary". Men not being allowed in women's spaces?

Don't feel that you have to challenge them there and then OP, but make a note of their more "surprising" assertions and ask if the training materials will be provided to attendees so they can refer to them after the training.

that was my reaction

"I am fully aware of the trans, you cannot move without some witless celebrity blabbing on about it, it is all over the internet, and the flags are in the bloody supermarket"

Definitely go and listen. It might be better than it sounds, and it’s always sensible to know what your team are being told.

Even if you do not want to approach them head on, it is worth getting questions or even a short statement prepared in your head just in case somebody else pushes you over the edge.

Ask them if they think those organisations are acting illegally? What precisely is the nature of the discrimination. Ask how your organisation intends to remain within the law.

These bullshitters hate it when legal matters are raised and they are on very shaky ground here. The Supreme Court decision cannot be wished away.

I'm always struck by this. If you look at any actual persecuted groups across the world such as the Uyghurs in China or Rohingya in Myanmar, you don't get their flags draped all over supermarkets, schools, police cars and fire trucks, or on local government buildings while big corporations fall over themselves to train their staff on awareness.
This 'trans awareness' training reflects fucking privilege and prioritisation, not persecution.

or even supermarket workers on a minimum wage

I might just check (in writing?) with whoever has booked this training that it will be compliant with the law, as clarified by SC ruling. Nobody would want their staff to be given training which might leave the organisation open to legal challenges would they?

Go and take detailed notes. I think I’d be prepared to bet 10p that this isn’t legally compliant. You would have thought employers would be getting fed up of paying organisations like this to give them shit advice wouldn’t you? It seems not.

I'm long retired now, but back in the day when boring bloody useless seminars were scheduled, my eyes would roll to the back of my head. However I had a tactic to sign in, show up, make it to coffee break and leg it due to feeling ill. There was nothing anyone could do. I went home, put my feet up and I really didn't care.

Fact, I did go to meetings and participated fully in other things, but training and seminars given by outside entities were a no go for me. I was a senior manager too, in charge of HELLO..... the in house training department lol. There wasn't much we couldn't deliver ourselves, but honestly I'd reached a stage where training the trainers wasn't on my agenda anymore. I wasn't sacked. As I suspected it was all lip service and a "you scratch my back" inter company cosy cartel.

'Am aware boss, thanks. That should save the fee for my training'.

It will not be better than it sounds. GI and Stonewall are two cheeks of the same arse in terms of misrepresenting the law and framing logic as hate.

I attended one of these. Me and others asked some polite questions in chat - eg how can we keep to our legal obligations in toilets/changing rooms if a woman is unable to get undressed in the presence of a man for reasons of religion/belief. He said that every Muslim woman he has ever met has flung her hijab off with wild abandon because they felt so comfortable with him. He called us petulant and booted us off the call. I'd attend and ask a polite, factual questions about the Supreme Court judgement.

I would really struggle to go listen to the indoctrination attempt. I'd opt out if possible to save me blowing a fuse.