Civil Servants troubled by ‘non-binary’ colleague dressing as a cat

Civil servants have raised concerns that a workplace culture surrounding ‘identity issues’ has left them feeling unable to object to a colleague dressing as a cat.

According to anonymous sources, a male colleague who identifies as ‘non-binary’ attended a training session at the Scottish Government’s headquarters in Edinburgh wearing ears, a tail and a dress.

A whistleblower told The Scotsman: “The issue seems light hearted but, actually, staff were uncomfortable but felt they couldn’t express opposition to this form of dress because we are encouraged to be kind and open-minded, especially around issues of identity.”

Self-censorship

The concerned staff member called the incident “disquieting”, saying that “it could have been more swiftly handled”.

Former civil servant Murray Meikle remarked that “commenting on this is (potentially) a career ending decision. An utterly dysfunctional organisation”.

A Scottish Government spokesman stated: “All civil servants are required to dress appropriately for work. The dress described in this claim would not meet that requirement.”

‘Misgendering’

Under a draft Whitehall policy leaked earlier this year, civil servants would be investigated for misconduct if they intentionally ‘misgendered’ or ‘deadnamed’ colleagues in order to “deny, mock or invalidate a person’s trans identity”.

However, the Cabinet Office’s policy did emphasise that single-sex facilities must be used on the basis of biological sex and not on the basis of “affirmed gender”.

Equality law specialist Audrey Ludwig MBE noted: “Civil servants should not face disciplinary action merely for expressing a lawful belief or for accurately referring to biological sex where this is relevant, including in discussions about single-sex services and workplaces.”

“Any trans or misconduct policy must carefully distinguish between unlawful harassment, which depends on all the circumstances, and the legitimate exercise of protected rights to freedom of belief and expression.”