Gender ideology is written into HR policies right across the civil service. When I complained I was forced out of my job.
I originally trained as an engineer, and joined the civil service in 2019 to work on important policy questions. In 2023 I was forced out of the job I loved after speaking up about something I thought was wrong: my department introduced HR policies that took a side on the controversy about sex and gender identity. Staff were forbidden from saying that males who identify as transgender are still male, under threat of disciplinary action, which would hamper our ability to carry out policy work or advise ministers on any topic where biological sex is relevant.
The civil service is supposed to be impartial, and when it isn’t that’s a problem for the entire country. So I raised the issue privately with my managers – I had no intention of upsetting anyone. My concerns were misrepresented as me not wanting to share single-sex facilities with someone who is transgender. But that wasn’t true: I was simply saying that impartiality requires civil servants to be free to use clear, accurate language.
They dismissed my concerns. I started to be treated differently and to get negative feedback about my performance, which was baseless. I was stripped of my responsibilities and my team and ended up resigning. I enjoyed my work and was good at it, and that was a team I had recruited and trained. It was a really big personal loss.
I started an employment-tribunal claim, and at the end of 2024 the departments I had worked for settled for the full amount. They promised to revise the policies I complained about, but that hasn’t happened. To restore public confidence in its impartiality, the civil service must stop giving preferential treatment to one belief system, and start following the law.