Transman repeatedly platformed at work

[Stuckinlalaland]

I work for a very large UK insurance company in their corporate office. We are one of the biggest UK insurance companies.

Last month someone did a talk, a trans speaker, to talk about ‘his story’. I didn’t attend but heard from others that it was a long sob story about their life, in which they shared the trauma they suffered in early life and their journey.

If you are at all educated about this, it sounded barbaric. Sharing in a corporate setting how they cut off their healthy breasts, about how they alienated themselves from their entire family etc.

And I’ve heard that they’re coming in AGAIN.

what can I do about this? I don’t want to put my head above the ground but it’s so dangerous.

I saw a post about it on X where someone has flagged the issue, but I don’t think it went anywhere.

What do you feel you should do?
for me I’d be making sure that any staff related policies are legal.
i wouldn’t really seek to de platform someone. I’m sure that they will run out of interested listeners.

Why are they inviting anyone in to talk to staff about their medical history, family breakdown, etc?

Are staff required to attend?

Is this person being invited in as a private individual or as a representative of an outside organisation?

Lot's of corporate settings invite speakers to share their personal 'journey' usually for their employees to broaden their understanding of the experiences of others in the service of employee cohesion which certainly sounds like something you could benefit from.

Ignorance has long been recognised as cause for disunity.

Work should be about work not about the employees.
I should imagine those who attended were just glad for the excuse to skive. If you spread the word that the 'talk' is an abysmal pity party, the employees might decide they'd rather work than skive.
So long as the employer doesn't make such things mandatory, I'm not sure there's anything to be done.

Are you obliged to attend?

Definitely check that the DEI policies are legal and don’t digress from the Equality Act.

What does it matter? You didn't even attend. It sounds a lot more interesting than the boring health and safety talks that we have to sit through.

That sounds highly inappropriate, listening to a random person's warts and all story of their life. What benefit is it going to have and what relevance has it got to the work environment. Would they invite a white, heterosexual person with two children to come in and explain their journey from squalor and poverty to where they are now?

Don't go to the talk. I know someone with a similar background which they share on a individual basis if it comes up naturally. I feel compassion for the person particularly as I feel they have been let down. I can't imagine them ever standing up and doing talk about it.

I think these talks are meant to open our eyes to other people's journeys but I don't think they should be forced on people.

She clearly isn't but can't bear the idea that other people would be interested &/ or be swayed to show mercy on such individuals hence the irrational grasping at ploys to sabotage them.

The only advice the OP really needs to hear is get a life for their own sanity.

Unless you’re being forced to attend, or it’s being midsdvertised I’m struggling to see an issues.

Would they invite a white, heterosexual person with two children to come in and explain their journey from squalor and poverty to where they are now?

OP's speaker may have been white, heterosexual with two kids? Unless im missing the bit where OP said she was black or childless?

We have this sort of inspirational speaker stuff all the time for what it's worth and can confirm they are often white, heterosexual and have families. Not sure why you think that's a verboten class in the office.

Unless you’re required to go I’d let them get on with it. We have similar sessions in my organisation. Last week there was a really good one on recognising the symptoms of stress early, and a few months ago there was one on menstrual health which was very useful. He’s probably in again because participants felt the hour wasn’t enough and wanted to learn more.

Would they invite a white, heterosexual person with two children to come in and explain their journey from squalor and poverty to where they are now?

Well, not if most employees already live that life or know someone who did. The point of such exercises is educate people on something they don't have experience in not to engage oppression olympics.

Given how fast most companies are banking away from all things trans, I'm surprised they're still doing this. I assume they are still doing the stonewall index thing too

I also note that all of a sudden we've got a number of posts about TM in a way that's unusual.....

The company should consider inviting a speaker to give Talks on domestic violence. Domestic abuse is a workplace issue.

Platformed ? Emotive word
giving a talk?

One that by the sounds of it supports my opinion that there are severe traumatised people trapped in the ideology. Calling it / dismissive / a sob story is quite disgusting if so.

I suspect if someone who suffered DV volunteered to talk they might also be allowed?

why does this bother you?

This feels like the second transman gotya thread in 2 days - we haven’t had some many transmen threads in a year before now

Could you point out that the details of surgery might be triggering for some and request a warning ahead of future talks?

We've had a speaker on domestic violence. Also menopause, neuro divergence, lots of things. At our workplace it's always been an external speaker rather than an employee.

This! 100%

Unless there are people from all walks of life being invited in, then why this person?

id be thinking - what do I fill in on my annual CPD return to cover this?!

I also note that all of a sudden we've got a number of posts about TM in a way that's unusual.....

Quite.

Almost like that corporate office where they are inviting one back in again soon . . .

That talk sounds quite gruesome and disturbing rather than motivational, so unlikely to boost productivity.

It would certainly boost awareness and I guess would have people scurrying back to their desks to Google how to spot the danger signs and make sure none of their kids get diverted down the path to such a sad and tragic destination.

If the first talk did not cover how they got hooked then it would be useful if this was covered in the second talk.

It reminds me of the spectacular backfiring at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (!) when they invited Katie Neeves from Cool2BTrans in to talk. The dirty, giggling pervert regaled the mainly female group about how he used to steal his sister's knickers and how wearing "girl's clothes" made the old man feel "dirty" and "naughty".

thisisntworkingpodcast.co.uk/hrs-dirty-laundry-trans-training-knickers-scandal-rocks-cipd/

Does time spent in these 'events' help the workplace?

Most people are fully immersed in real life and don't need someone else's nonsense displayed in front of them. Particularly those that belong to a cult of denying biological reality and damaging healthy humans.

In the future I hope that this betrayal of biological reality will just be seen as a temporary mental blip on humanity and not any more.

I don't want to know how people have recovered from cancer either, or suffered in poverty but are jolly well off now.

Yes @POWNewcastleEastWallsend good points

Your comment re 'Katie' Neeves of "cool2btrans" (what an awful, cringey name for an organisation- very "down with the kids') reminded me of how very sickeningly inappropriate that comment was.

The culture of giving a platform to, and indulging, individual suffering ( there's a whole section in bookshops dedicated to misery porn) and nurturing it in the name of identity and inclusion has had its day. It has no place in an office environment and especially when there is a unspoken message that staff are expected to go along with people's delusions and private fantasies.

We had a trans-identified female come to speak at my workplace and her talk actually helped to peak me and a few colleagues. It was so blindingly obvious that she should have tried to address her poor relationship with her mother instead of deciding to grow a fake penis on her arm. I often think of her and hope she never went through with the surgery. I would see it as part of 'operation let them speak'. Whatever the 'message' of the talk, it won't necessarily be the message people take away from it.
This was in an educational setting though. Bit bizarre in an insurance company, I agree.