London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Scottish government will ask staff to put gender pronouns in emails, despite overwhelming opposition

Scottish government will ask staff to put gender pronouns in emails, despite overwhelming opposition

The Scottish government is reportedly preparing to ask civil servants to put their gender pronouns at the end of emails in an effort to boost inclusivity – despite the majority of employees opposing the idea.
According to the Telegraph newspaper, the government supports a proposal that would encourage civil servants to take a “pronoun pledge” and add their preferred pronouns – such as he/him, she/her, they/them, or even zie/zir – to their email signatures.

Though it appears that the Scottish government is moving ahead with the proposal, it has already proved to be an unpopular idea among government staffers.

A June poll of over 3,000 civil servants found that 58% did not put pronouns in their emails and probably won't, while 25% said they did not currently use preferred pronouns but would potentially be open to it in the future. Just 17% claimed to currently use them.

Following the results of the poll, Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government Leslie Evans said in a June Q&A session that she was “disappointed” with some comments people had made about the gender pronoun email idea.

Evans said that while “what we write around our name and so on is good and helpful,” more needs to be done, and declared she feels “pretty passionately” as “a feminist but also somebody who's got some family experience of gender assignment.”

She also claimed that it was a “very important experience and learning experience” when one of her transgender colleagues shadowed her on the job a year and a half ago.

Trina Budge, the director of For Women Scotland, however, called the pronoun proposal “deeply stupid,” noting that the employee poll “showed the majority of civil servants were against this move.”

“It is sad, but not surprising, to see Ms Evans disregard this,” Budge declared, calling it “further evidence that this government only pretends to consult or openly discuss, and ditches any views which conflict with their predetermined policies.”

Arguing that the Scottish government is now leaning into “controlling, illiberal and authoritarian tendencies,” Budge warned that “in forging ahead with this or any associated coerced signing of a pledge, the Scottish Government would, potentially, be discriminating against a protected belief and also inviting sex discrimination.”

The Free Speech Union also condemned the proposal, writing, “Far from being 'inclusive' this plan creates a chilling environment for those who don't believe in gender ideology.”

Recent Freedom of Information (FOI) releases show that Edinburgh has a close relationship with the LGBT charity Stonewall, which has repeatedly received money for training staff.

In a 2017 Stonewall Workplace Equality Index submission, the government boasted that since 2015 “it has been mandatory for all our Senior Civil Service staff,” as well as “staff who are chairing recruitment and selection panels,” to “undergo unconscious bias training, which includes LGBTi awareness.”

It also delivered transgender-specific awareness training, while all civil servants are officially required to undergo “Diversity and Equality training.”

The Scottish government has been increasingly accused of taking action against free speech over the past few years. In October, a hate crime bill backed by Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf was proposed that would legally punish Scots for making “insulting” remarks – including against transgender people – even within the privacy of their own homes.

In February, a man was arrested by Scottish police after he made “an offensive tweet” about Sir Captain Tom Moore, who had recently died.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×