Halifax bank invites bigots raging against inclusive pronoun badges to close their accounts
Halifax has told customers critical of its new pronoun-inclusive staff badges that they are welcomed to close their accounts. (Halifax)
Halifax has come out swinging for the LGBTQ+ community and invited anyone angry at the bank’s new pronoun staff badges to close their account.
The company shared an image of a badge belonging to an employee named Gemma with the pronouns “she/her/hers” in a post on Twitter Tuesday (28 June). The post, which comes days before Pride Month comes to an end, simply added the statement “Pronouns matter” and the hashtag “#ItsAPeopleThing”.
Pronouns matter. #ItsAPeopleThing pic.twitter.com/vj9UdlBnLy
— Halifax (@HalifaxBank) June 28, 2022
The post highlighting Halifax’s new inclusive badge quickly drew the ire of narrow-minded people on social media. Several users rather pathetically took issue with people sharing their pronouns and piled on the bank for protecting staff from being misgendered at work, predictably decrying the company for being ‘woke’.
But Halifax wasn’t too bothered by ignorant people on social media threatening to close their accounts with the bank, and it instead showed them the veritable door by pointing them in the right direction.
The bank wrote to one user that it strives for “inclusion, equality” and is “quite simply” just “doing what’s right”.
“If you disagree with our values, you’re welcome to close your account,” the bank added.
Several people on social media celebrated Halifax for creating a more inclusive environment and decried those in Halifax’s comment section to taking issue with the pronoun badges.
It’s great to see workplaces like @HalifaxBank offering staff the option of including their pronouns on badges.
Having pronouns on badges is a simple yet impactful way to make sure LGBTQ+ identities are respected – for employees and customers alike 🌈💗 https://t.co/Q0z0bMM3Xd— Stonewall (@stonewalluk) June 29, 2022
We stand with and support any bank or organisation that joins us in taking this positive step forward for equality and inclusion. It's vital that everyone can be themselves in the workplace. ❤️ https://t.co/TuoFpqN692— HSBC UK (@HSBC_UK) June 29, 2022
Gender Critical Movement/Terfs on abortion: Tumbleweed.
Gender Critical Movement/Terfs on pronouns: “This is outrageous. I’m going to close my account.”— India Willoughby (@IndiaWilloughby) June 29, 2022
https://twitter.com/NoJusticeMTG/status/1542066163810766848
Thank you for being inclusive!
Sorry that your social media team have had to deal with the transphobes but they’re doing a great job.— Brodie ?️??? (@BrodieMH) June 28, 2022
It's mind blowing to me how annoyed transphobes get with even the most minor thing.
There are people in the replies suggesting trans and gnc employees simply verbally correct every customer that uses incorrect pronouns for them… instead of saving time by having it on a badge. https://t.co/Q3q2XWL428— merle ♂️ (@fujomod3r) June 29, 2022
A spokesperson for Halifax told PinkNews that it wants the business to be a place where everyone can be themselves and feel included, which is why it was important to give people the option to let others know their preferred pronouns.
“We want to create a safe and accepting environment that opens the conversation around gender identity,” the spokesperson said. “We care about our customers’ and colleagues’ individual preferences so, for us, it’s a very simple solution to accidental misgendering.”
