Olympics volunteers ‘quizzed on how to treat gays holding hands’
A quiz for Olympics volunteers which included advice on dealing with complaints about gays holding hands has been dubbed ‘a bit patronising’.
PA reports that 70,000 volunteer hopefuls being trained in advance of London 2012 have been handed the quiz, which includes a question on how to act when unable to discern a person’s gender.
One question on the well-intentioned test asks the volunteer what they would do if a complaint is received about a gay couple holding hands.
The Huffington Post says that multiple-choice answers given include telling the complainant to “stop being a homophobic idiot”, “politely” asking the couple to stop holding hands, and, presumably correctly, explaining to the complainant the “huge diversity of people” at the Games.
On how to deal with confusion about a Games-goer’s gender, volunteers can “ask if they are male or female”, “panic”, or “tell them where the male, female toilets and accessible toilets are.”
An Olympics volunteer said to the Manchester Evening News: “I thought it was unnecessary and they could have spent the money in other ways.
“I know they are trying to cater for everybody but this was a bit patronising.”
