What in holy hell is this monstrosity???

[punnedout]

https://www.poppyshop.org.uk/products/pride-poppy-badge

Why, just why??? Why does something as pure as remembrance need to be politicised with trans and queer ideology? Or am I being unreasonable to be triggered?!

Thanks for taking the time to explain, @JellySaurus and @scoutzx. I really appreciate it

There are many other military support charities you can donate to instead of buying a poppy from the RBL.
My dad was an army soldier and I an army child so I ALWAYS supported the RBL but I stopped buying poppies last year when I discovered that RBL employ a DEI manager on £70,000pa. They could've have employed a veteran in need but instead gave the job to a Trans Identified Male who's never served in the forces.
When people buy their poppies they think they're helping service personnel in need but instead they're funding a massive salary for a DEI hire.

These stories, once forgotten and covered up, should now be amplified and brought to everybody's attention. In my opinion the Remembrance service really does showcase and amplify previously forgotten groups and I always find it very moving to hear their stories.

However minority groups should not be singled out in this way with special badges. People who gave their lives in the service of their country should all be equally remembered by a red poppy.

Ummm nope. Just a straight bloke who likes accessing women’s spaces….

And donations from the poppy appeal help pay his wages.

This Marci George?

Marci was 17 and a half when she enlisted, joining the Women’s Royal Army Corps (WRAC)

Marci’s were the first cohort of female electricians posted to Bielefeld, Germany for trade training. “…we were a bit of a novelty…we had a really good sergeant that looked after us, he quite openly said, 'I've never dealt with women before. This is all new for me'

https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/stories/marci-george-story

I'm kind of on the fence with this because there's certainly something to be said to standing up to Hitler's fascism that didn't come cheap that should be reflected on. At the same time, modern warfare is particularly exploitative of soldiers & public sympathy that was garnered from WW 2 only for empire building & resource theft than any real resistance to fascism.

But the thing is I think the public is now more experienced enough to recognise these cons to see them as they are following the Iraq war given their resistance to military interventions.

We are sophisticated enough to hold two thoughts in our heads at once being appreciation for sacrifice & don't fuck around with the lives of our children anymore that is a feature of discussion when ever these memoriums are commemorated.

The notion that Sassoon, Graves and Owen, gay/bisexual men whose lives have been celebrated and acknowledged with memorials and blue plaques, and whose works have been studied in schools for decades are all of sudden in need of memorial representation with a special pin dominated by DSD appropriation and trans activism is quite silly.

Opening up fund raising to different interest groups works in such ways.

Yes, because of course those dead gay men would surely be in favour of modern day groups that support the destruction of the definition of homosexuality 🙄

Um, the context is fund raising so unless them dead men can still flip some coin that's a moot point.

Oh it’s you again with a brand new name. Yes, we all know you support homophobic organisations who think gender determines attraction. You’ve filled up threads with it. Good for you. Go and buy a pin. Not sure they are on sale where you are.

Frequent flyer alert.

homophobic

Speaking for the entire gay community like you speak for all women now are we?

The delusional grandiosity of the GC movement never ends.

In general i have no time at all for the progress pride flag, or people pushing trans issues where they are not needed.

However. Many many many members of the military were forced out, some in awful circumstances following awful harassment my the RMP and so on, simply for being gay. They have recently been given apologies, are getting some compensation and the acknowledgement that what happened to them was utterly wrong. It affected a fair few of my friends (none of whom is or was trans) and i am happy to support them, and be happy and relieved (and angry) that they are now getting the apologies.

Unfortunately the progress pride flag is the one that gets all the attention so that's what they are using (and i will assume that there are trans people who had this discrimination too)

On this occasion I'm happy to say: if you don't like it, don't wear one.

surely that is why there are so many? my mum got me one last year for my football team, and a couple of different ones (one is rather lovely, about 6 or 7 tiny poppies). This year she got me one with the year on the petal. They just become something (else) for people to collect. Or not. Whatever.

I only saw the entirely paper ones for the first time this week. I like them, too.

that story is a bit meh. I was in the army and I'm 10 years older than her. WRAC all did trade training in the UK as did the men. (then i was posted to a unit in Germany with thousands of men and not that many women at all - about 50 i guess - they managed to get used to us being there and being good pretty quickly. Bielefeld was FULL of women)

It may be meh, but it’s not a story about a bloke.

It’s undoubtedly a ‘me problem’. I bristle against the niche marketing, split everyone down into smaller demographics so we can sell things, aspect of it all.

I do have reservations about poppies overall. They shifted funding from veterans to recruiting more soldiers recently, iirc, which seemed to me to be a shift from what the poppy was supposed to mean.

May be another instance where the signifier becomes mistaken for the signified.

The poppy has become increasingly performative or used as a tool for virtual signalling instead of quiet, personal reflection.

To be fair, I think the RBL struggles at times to engage younger generations as more and more WW1/2 veterans pass away.
So by having these pins for LGBT+ and black soldiers etc, it generates that interest and donations.
If they started actually saying men in dresses went over the top at flanders or something like that, then I'd have an objection.

sorry, yes i meant to say that.

This is a bit outing but I'm from a military family. A senior NCO in our family had a bit of an "interview without coffee" back in the 70s about the RBL and current members of the forces. When you are in basic training they come round, give a talk and then ask you to join a scheme where you donate one day's pay per year (in a 31 day month, that is important since they are paid by the day). Many peope sign up to that because, well who doesn't want to know there is an org out there for you.

The reason for the talking to came about when the relative discovered that officers were asked to donate x amount - which amounted to nearly as much as a junior soldier. And it never changed and was not related to their salaries (also paid by the day). So he encouraged anyone who had signed up to unsign and if they wanted just to donate X amount. Since then i have only ever worn a poppy when someone has given it to me (obvs during my Army days that was enforced as part of the uniform, but i am managed to never ever attend a rembrance day parade)

No, i'm just interested in what it is you are trying to achieve. We all have reasons for posting on particular forums, for what we hope to get out of the activity. Sometimes it may be down to a shared hobby or specific interest eg architecture, car mechanics, parenting tips, football fan zone, baking blog etc; and sometimes we just post for the company of like minds ( which may well be attached to the above shared interests).

I'm not sure why my earlier post was deleted? I cannot see anything contentious in it?

I'm not trying to achieve anything. I'm just responding to the boards in the same way I di the relationships or housekeeping section. What is different here is that some members like you dont understand that this is just a part of mumsnet. The majority of people wont have special reasons for posting here over anywhere else.

This board is a super special sacred safe space for you. For me and most others, it's just a forum with topics to reply to. No different to aibu or anywhere else except for the strange notions of a GC safe space that some members seem to possess