Hobbycraft employee badge - no terfs, no Tories

[ItsCoolForCats]

Another example of why bringing your whole self to work is a terrible idea.

Hobbycraft seems to be busy trying to mitigate the fallout, presumably because they know which demographic spends the most money there.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/politics/5359520/dundee-hobbycraft-trans-row/

It is so odd that some declarations of discrimination are deemed ok and even supported by line managers....I have never and will never vote Tory but I find it really odd that ANY manager would allow a member of staff to wear a badge like that. We've had a Tory government for most of my children's lives - they were voted in by the public so it's safe to assume that you would be depriving yourself of a lot of customers.

Nearly everyone is a TERF when you break things down, but I can see you need to do a bit more thinking to realise that maybe.

I’d be very surprised if Hobbycraft tolerated an employee wearing a badger!

An emotional support badger might be tolerated

I take it I just missed a series of short lessons on how to be Kind, Inclusive, and Tolerant?

In a very limited & technical sense of the word "missed".

Well, the BBC allowed Ru Paul’s Drag Race to not only feature a song with lyrics of “Terfs and Tories make me spew, there’s no hate on my menu” but they released it as a single.

Seems like it’s something of a theme.

Quite pleased Hobbycraft disavowed the badge. I spend half my disposable income in there.

This reminds me of an independent craft seller I used to buy from when I had spare money. Then she posted how awful JKR is and that she doesn't want money from anyone who supports JK.
So I stopped buying from her and assume others did too. Now she posts a lot about how she's lost a lot of sales and she doesn't know why.

And a very particular take on kindness and inclusion

Sorry what?

Is this Hobbycraft policy or is the employee taking it upon themselves to tell 50% of customers that they are not welcome?

There's definitely no understanding of irony on that menu!

They surely know that a lot of their stuff goes into making banners for marches and rallies?

Please stop bringing your whole self to work, it’s exhausting. Just your work self is fine. [gein]

Yup.

Ru Paul's Drag Race 2023, it was a song called "Don't Ick My Yum" which the contestants came up with and Ru, Michelle Visage et al went along with it. It was released as a single by the BBC and is still on Apple Music and Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/2mNgw6JIONTASjBWExoKJ2?si=9cafb8b9df594741

I complained to the Beeb at the time and got nowhere.

As long as the badger eats the damned autocarrots my phone produces!

I’m impressed by anyone wearing a badger, they’re heavy buggers.

As for Hobbycraft, they’re in CVA which means they’ve had to enter into a deal with their creditors because they were heading for a more serious insolvency. They can’t afford to lose customers.

And probably about 75% of their customer base too! And typically older women (who are sick of all this shit)

There is a trans employee in the store so I would imagine it was their doing

I can’t imagine any business allowing badges that are political, both slogans are wrong

It’s not evil. It’s an opinion you clearly don’t share and it was inappropriate and unprofessional in a public- facing role but that’s all.

I think you're missing the point of the reference a little.

Would anything like this make you speak up though?

Antisemitism? Racism? Homphobia? Lewd or explicit language or imagery?

Presumably everyone has a line?

I have become somewhat used to the cancelling, silencing etc of women's voices and am a coward, so probably wouldn't say anything. But I wonder when and where I would finally speak up. I have had to do a lot of self reflection lately as to how complicit I might have been in mainland Europe in the 30s, given my avoidance of confrontation and my willingness not to speak up.

Whether it's "evil" or not, it's potentially discriminatory - by excluding "TERFs and Tories", it could be construed as a refusal to serve someone whose views are protected under the Equality Act 2010, as clarified by Forstater v CGD Europe where GC views were confirmed to have met the five aspects of the Grainger test and qualified as a protected belief.

Discriminating on the basis of a protected belief is illegal.

Discriminating on the basis of a protected belief is illegal.

This.

And a pound to a penny that hobbycraft have no idea that it's a protected characteristic, and therefore unlawful discrimination.

but they're gonna

The only thing needed for hatred to triumph is for good people to stay silent.

The only thing needed for nastiness to triumph is for good people to stay silent.

Once nastiness and hatred are normalised in society, evil soon follows.