Copyright scotsman
A row broke out within the Scottish Government after a civil servant compared those raising concerns about trans women using female bathrooms to racists. The comment, which was posted to an internal staff network in the wake of the landmark Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman, was deleted by moderators. However, the government's LGBTI+ network committee then complained it had not been given prior warning of the deletion, and said the handling of the situation had caused "emotional distress". Documents released under Freedom of Information (FOI) show discussions between senior government officials and the staff LGBTI+ network following the court judgment in April, which ruled a woman is defined by biological sex under equality laws. The week after the ruling, one employee posted an image to an LGBT channel on Viva Engage, the private social network used by the government, which featured text saying: “It wasn’t about water fountains then, it’s not about bathrooms now." Racially segregated water fountains were a feature of the Jim Crow era in the US. Following a complaint, the comment was deleted by moderators, who found it "breaches the comments and moderation policy as it could be seen as heated, could be divisive, could provoke or offend others and does not foster good relations between different groups". They also asked the LGBTI+ network committee to delete it from a separate, private channel. However, in an email to Neil Rennick, the Scottish Government's director-general for education and justice and an “executive team ally”, the committee raised concerns about this. “A number of the LGBTI+ committee members received the message below regarding the moderation of a photo comment made by a member of the LGBTI+ network,” the email, sent on April 24, reads. “We are aware that member[s] of the LGBTI+ network will be more likely to have been significantly negatively affected by last week’s judgment than the majority of other staff members. “The moderators of the groups in which the photo comments were posted were given no warning prior to the deletion of the comment in the public facing group and no opportunity to respond either before or after the deletion. “The handling of this situation has caused significant additional emotional distress, and we acknowledge that there may be many more similar issues around moderation in coming weeks and months. “As a committee, we would be very grateful if we could meet with you to discuss this situation, and more broadly the impact the Supreme Court judgment is having on staff, as soon as possible, prior to a further conversation with comms about handling of this and any further comments.” Two separate meetings were then held with the LGBTI+ network the following month - one to discuss moderation, and another to discuss the wider Supreme Court judgment. The latter was also attended by Lesley Fraser, the director-general for corporate. A briefing note prepared for Mr Rennick made clear “that community admins do not have a decision-making role in moderation”, adding: “It is for the diversity and inclusion team, as the internal policy leads, to advise the moderation team on internal diversity and inclusion matters. “While we understand that the current situation is very difficult for some colleagues, and are keen to ensure colleagues know how to access advice and support, we must continue to work to the process set out in our policy.”
