Total capture

Sigh. The rot is everywhere.

Citizens Advice is facing a backlash from staff for an “ideological instruction” to wear gender pronoun badges.

Dame Clare Moriarty, its £170,000-a-year chief executive, told all staff last month that pronouns are “an important way of affirming their gender identity” and “we shouldn’t assume someone’s gender based on their appearance”.

No they’re not and of course we should.

Her internal memo on Citizens Advice’s intranet, seen by The Telegraph, added: “You can help to normalise sharing pronouns by sharing yours. We’ve created some button badges with different pronouns that can be fastened to a lanyard or your clothing.”

But we don’t want to “normalise sharing pronouns.” Sharing pronouns is utterly moronic and also bad.

The charity has introduced the badges in national offices and via suppliers for regional teams, while its IT team has drawn up instructions on adding pronouns to email signatures.

The four-page guide says that “the pronouns used to refer to you are an extension of your name” and getting someone’s pronouns wrong is “misgendering”, meaning staff must “thank them for correcting you and let them know it won’t happen again”.

How do adult people allow themselves to get this stupid????

Staff are told to consult Mermaids and Gendered Intelligence if they want more coaching.

A Citizens Advice benefits adviser, who received the memo, told The Telegraph: “I know many who are deeply unhappy with this kind of ideological instruction, especially at a time of economic crisis for our clients, which is what ought to be the priority for Citizens Advice.”

“Never mind about your heating bill, I want to talk to you about our Lord and Savior my pronouns.”

In another memo this year, the charity explained to staff on why it is a “trans-inclusive service”, saying it is “particularly important to be explicit” about this because of prejudice and harm faced by trans and non-binary communities.

What harm. Tell us about the harm. Be specific and concrete. What harm???

It said that being trans-inclusive means that “as an organisation, we recognise that trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary people are non-binary; we demonstrate this in the way we interact with colleagues and with clients”.

They can’t “recognise” that because it’s not true. You can’t “recognize” that giraffes are salmon, because it isn’t true. You can’t “recognize” that men are women, because it isn’t true.

Ms Moriarty said in response to the criticism: “Speaking up for people who face intense disadvantage is part of our charitable purpose. We want to create a service where everyone is comfortable coming to us for help, and a workplace where everyone belongs.”

But they don’t. They want to create a service where many people will feel acutely uncomfortable going to them for help, and a workplace where people who know the difference between women and men don’t belong.

She said personal opinions are recognised, adding: “We encourage respectful dialogue and ask all staff to be mindful about discussions that affect some people more directly, and more personally, than others.”

Except women. They just have to deal with it.

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