Wear Our Gay Pride Badge Or You Can't Meet The People, The National Trust Tells It's Volunteers.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4759510/National-Trust-tells-workers-wear-pride-badge-face-ban.html

Isn't this taking things a little too far?

[Mamyalynne]

You're right of course, they could indeed have explored the things they are exploring without a uniform change/addition - it would in fact have saved money too.

If I were a volunteer it wouldn't matter to me one jot, but seems emotions are high with some regardless and this has added to that ill feeling.

[Ellipsis]

Wouldn't have bothered me either, but I still think it was a bad idea. :)

[woofgang]

I will ask again....would any of the objectors’ views have changed if the cause supported by the badge had been one that they supported personally? and think before you answer....or don’t answer but think anyway. Why is it acceptable to say that volunteers must wear eg green polo shirts but not rainbow badges or lanyards?
And I point out again that badges or other paraphernalia worn to show organisational support for a cause does not, and is not intended to indicate the wearer’s personal support....of course if a volunteer finds themselves working for an organisation that espouses values that they cannot, then maybe they should consider whether or not they wish to continue volunteering there. For instance if i volunteered for an organisation that required me to wear a uniform that indicated a support for hunting then I would leave....not because of the uniform requirement but because I could not align myself with the views of the organisation and therefore would not wish to contribute to it in any way.

[Hazi-Hammenuhoth]

What utter garbage, woofgang. The National Trust has no link whatsoever with the promotion of homosexual behaviour or promotion of same-sex relationships any more than it does with, say, incestuous relationships. Providing green jumpers is totally and utterly different to supplying rainbow coloured lanyards and badges, which are clearly associated with the promotion of homosexual flamboyance while at the same time somehow promoting this lifestyle as 'normal'. Personally, I would find the rainbow badge and lanyard offensive and would not wish to be escorted round a stately home by someone sporting such.

[woofgang]

Then you will cease to support an organisation which supports beliefs that you don’t.....same as me and hunting. Not sure why you would want to go around a NT building if you don’t want to support them regardless of what the guide is wearing....and again I ask....would you views change if you supported the cause that the badge/lanyard represented?

[woofgang]

also incest is illegal, being gay is not.

[Islay]

You have just shown your colours with the normal comment!!!

[Mamyalynne]

As the NT flag these events as...

//Celebrating our LGBTQ heritage: Exhibitions, installations and events at our places.//


I would imagine anyone attending wouldn't be at all surprised to see a Rainbow Flag or two.

When all is boiled down, it's all about choice.

[woofgang]

except Mamya that uniforms and their appurtenances are not a choice issue....

[Ellipsis]

woofgang, the hunting analogy is a good one. As well as LGBTQ rights, the NT supports hunting.

What it doesn't do is make its volunteers wear badges to imply that they personally support hunting.

Google [hunting on national trust land] or see for example:

https://www.change.org/p/the-national-trust-the-national-trust-stop-supporting-illegal-hunting-on-national-trust-land-2

[TigerLady]

I do volunteer work at a christian community charity. I don't take part in the morning prayers as I am not a christian. They welcome me with open arms and are grateful for all the help they can get. Doesn't make me any less of a person cos I don't pray...

[Mamyalynne]

Guess so Woof, was just trying to even things out but maybe to no avail.

[vulcan42]

wolfgang, the NT support the poppy appeal, they don't make the volunteers wear poppies, so why are they insisting that volunteers wear a pride badge?

[Ellipsis]

Another good example vulcan42

[jno]

Ellipsis, I don't see that wearing the organisation's lanyard implies that the wearer personally supports gay rights: it's still just part of the official uniform, pro tem, and it's voluntary.

The NT's prevarication over hunting perturbs me. This, however, does not, and I rather wonder why it's an issue at all. Gay rights are now enshrined in law, and you have to suspect the motives of anyone making a fuss over lanyards celebrating a law.

[ludwig]

It sounds to me like a stupid thing the NT is asking its volunteers to do, but the fact remains, if they don't like what they're being told to wear they can un-volunteer themselves.

[youngmafbog]

So you would be happy for all volunteers to be 'forced' to wear a badge promoting fox hunting then?

[youngmafbog]

They can Ludwig but sometimes when an organisation like the NT is hijacked by the right-on brigade that deviates from the core purpose of the charity you need to make a stand. The RSPCA is another example of one that has overstepped the mark.

[jno]

the NT doesn't promote fox hunting, it just studiously looks the other way when it takes place; so that is emphatically not going to happen.

[jno]

well, ymb, you make your stand by not visiting NT properties. Volunteers are equally free to make a stand by not volunteering.

Sorted.