In order to be trans allies, Ministry of Justice employees have been advised not to use 35 common words, including “gender critical” and “protecting women and girls.”
The HMP Probation Service (HMPPS) diversity and inclusion team circulated hundreds of officials a dictionary headlined “recognising transphobic coded language” before to transgender awareness week, according to The Sunday Telegraph.
The memo asserted that the terms were “transforming what would be deemed overt prejudice into covert behavior” and that it was “crucial that we keep fearmongering and misinformation at bay.”
For instance, the term ‘gender critical,’ which is used to refer to campaigners who believe biological sex is binary, is claimed to be a ‘term used to make anti-trans discrimination sound acceptable or respectable,’ and staff are warned to be on the lookout for social media accounts that espouse this viewpoint.
Also included is “defend women’s spaces/protecting women and girls,” which, according to the document, “depends on comparing trans women with predatory men in order to play on baseless fears and convince people that embracing trans inclusion threatens their safety.”
The HMPPS pride in prisons and probation LGBTI+ staff support network shared the glossary under the supervision of a £37,166-paid diversity lead.
In the beginning, civil servants are cautioned, “While occasional usage of these terms may not constitute misbehavior, the necessity of contesting their use cannot be emphasized.”
An employee of the Ministry of Justice told the Telegraph, “When I initially read the attachment in the email, I could not believe it; the worst part was that I was afraid to bring it up at work for fear of being labeled a transphobe.”
It came across as hostile and violent against those who believe in biological truth. I feel frustrated and helpless.
The number of transgender inmates in England and Wales increased by 21 percent from 162 in 2018 to 197 in 2017, a total of 197 individuals.
A Prison Service official stated, ‘This guidebook was written by a staff network, its content was not authorized prior to being disseminated, and it represents the network’s perspective rather than that of HMPPS as a whole.
HMPPS is evaluating the rules regarding internal communications to personnel from network groups following the publication of the report.