Pronouns aren’t enough... you must THINK of trans colleagues as women now
New Civil Service woke madness
CIVIL servants have been told to ‘think’ of transgender colleagues as women in new staff guidance branded as ‘woke’ by critics.
The diktat by bosses at data watchdog the Information Commissioner’s Office suggests that it is not enough to call employees by their chosen gender pronouns.
It says staff can show their support for trans colleagues by ‘thinking of the person as being the gender that they want you to think of them as’. The taxpayer-funded body also claims that transgender women – who are born male – go through the menopause. But MPs and campaigners have blasted the policies, saying it is the latest evidence of the public sector pandering to Left-wing gender ideology.
Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: ‘The ICO is supposed to be responsible for protecting people’s privacy. How can it be taken seriously in that role if it’s dictating to its employees what they can and can’t think?
‘ Talk about invasion of privacy! This is like something out of [George Orwell’s novel] 1984, telling people they must not commit thought crime.’
The ICO upholds information rights and has the power to fine companies caught breaching data laws.
Tory MP Lia Nici said: ‘Why do we need organisations like the ICO to produce guidance to tell people what they should be thinking? We already have protection for everyone in the workplace since the Equality Act was introduced in 2010.’
The ICO’s Trans Policy and Guidance says its staff should ‘be guided by your trans colleague and their preferences’ in an effort to support them and they ‘must call a person by their chosen or preferred name’. It adds: ‘ICO staff can support trans colleagues or individuals who are transitioning by... Thinking of the person as being the gender that they want you to think of them as.’
In separate guidance about the menopause, the ICO says: ‘The menopause is a natural hormone transition that every woman and some trans men, trans women and non-binary people will experience’.
An ICO spokesman said: ‘Treating everyone with dignity, respect and compassion is fundamental to the ICO’s work to uphold and protect information rights. Our policies and guidance reflect this commitment to inclusivity for employees in our workplace and to all those we serve.’
The energy watchdog Ofgem has also been accused of peddling ‘ nonsense gender theory’ to staff.
The regulator’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion strategy says the organisation has an ‘overarching focus on intersectionality’ [the view that everyone has their own unique experience of discrimination and oppression] and tells staff that they will ‘ be held accountable for this’.
Maya Forstater, of campaign group Sex Matters, said: ‘This is yet another example of employers peddling nonsense gender theory without considering the facts.’
An Ofgem spokesman said: ‘Being a good energy regulator and a good employer with appropriate equality, diversity and inclusion policies are not mutually exclusive.’