Cheery train greeting ‘excludes non-binary’
A NON-BINARY Labour activist has railed against one of Britain’s biggest train operators for leaving them out of a cheery greeting on a train.
Laurence Coles took offence when a conductor welcomed London North Eastern Railway passengers on board by saying: “Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.”
The 24-year-old LBGT+ officer for Tooting Labour Party said on social media the announcement had made them feel excluded.
Laurence, who is a commercial guard with
South Western Railways
and a trade union representative, tweeted: “‘Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...’ so as a nonbinary person this announcement doesn’t actually apply to me so I won’t listen @LNER.” A representative for LNER, which carries more than 20million passengers a year, replied: “I’m really sorry to see this, Laurence, our Train Managers should not be using language like this.”
They added: “Please could you let me know which service you are on and I will ensure they remain as inclusive as we strive to be at LNER.”
The apology infuriated Mark
Jenkinson, Conservative MP for Workington. He said: “You’d be forgiven for thinking this train manager had unleashed a tirade of abuse.
“Identify however you like, but can we stop this nonsense?”
But one of Laurence’s colleagues, who was also on the train, hit back.
Jarley, who describes themself as a “gender fluid instructor signaller on London Underground” wrote: “Both of us are non-binary and we were both alarmed and uncomfortable by the lack of inclusion.”
An LNER spokesman said: “We’re not bending over backward to accommodate any one person – we’re doing our best to accommodate every person...We are committed to diversity and inclusion and encourage onboard teams to welcome all customers.”