written by: Anonymous

NOTE: This is one of many testimonies regarding institutional capture, given to me by employees, students and service users in various sectors across the UK. See this page for more examples.

[The Stonewall guidance] also talks about changing rooms and toilets and the gender you feel comfortable with – whilst also saying that no medical transition is necessary. All implemented by the Met without consulting female staff – for Stonewall points – and when there was an officer recently in court for filming a female colleague in the shower while they were on a residential course.

“This is the feedback report from the Met’s submission to the Stonewall Champions Index in 2018. It focusses obsessively on identity. It annoys me that police officers are scrambling around wasting hours on this to gain a few points on a ridiculous index. You will see at one point Stonewall encourages links to Mermaids.”

[NOTE by la scapigliata:

Section 1 recommends scrutinising language use and inclusivity;

Section 2 states that Male/Female are “gender expressions”;

Section 3 states that support isn’t enough and asks for evidence of fundraising;

Section 4 asks to see Allies Initiatives advertised, people talking about their identities and people’s identities announced in advance;

Section 5 specifically requests ED&I engagement from board level staff and senior management, and recommends that visibility from a broad spread of senior leaders from different departments is utilised;

Section 6 claims “transsexual can be a limiting term” and recommends Stonewall “umbrella” definition be used, including the phrase “sex they were assigned at birth”;

Section 7 asks that E&D be embedded in procurement, to “ensure that suppliers meet an organisation’s own ethical and operational standards”;

Section 8 commends the MET on really strong engagement with LGBT groups but want to see even more engagement with groups such as Mermaids;

Section 9 asks about percentage of frontline staff trained in “reducing bias and discrimination toward LGBT service users”; END NOTE]

“There is also Stonewall’s ‘guidance for the policing sector’ which makes some astonishing claims – namely that ’employees shouldn’t have to disclose their trans status.’ So, I’m presuming you could join with a new sex and name – I would hope that a previous identity would be picked up on background checks – but who knows?

It also talks about changing rooms and toilets and the gender you feel comfortable with – whilst also saying that no medical transition is necessary. All implemented by the Met without consulting female staff – for Stonewall points – and when there was an officer recently in court for filming a female colleague in the shower while they were on a residential course. This Stonewall document states that searching guidelines are ‘under review’. However, the Met seem to be on the ball in this case and have gone back to the Equality Act – thank goodness.”

“This is a Q&A trans guide, available on the Met intranet site, for staff to access. It talks of using the facilities matching gender. All managers have been told to follow a trans toolkit while also being reminded that not everyone medically transitions. So yes, males will be changing with females. There are gender neutral facilities in modern stations but this is not what the Met are saying – – they are saying ‘use whatever you want’. We get covered in blood and gore – we need to shower and change at work.

The non-binary passages are particularly weird – no one seems to know the words or rules to use – but it’s a free for all as long as you come out as ‘trans’ or ‘non-binary’.”

“The Met has some trans employees, and they are paraded on blogs – for Stonewall points – and seem lovely, and I am aware of no problems with actual trans staff or officers. It’s just the stripping away of women’s privacy and the time and money spent on earning Stonewall stickers that annoys me. We have become an organisation that flails around trying to look good instead of helping victims and solving crimes.”