Hello ladies and gentlemen. This banal announcement by a train driver in the United Kingdom has sparked a broad debate on inclusiveness across the country, reports France Inter. Indeed, some passengers felt that the message was not inclusive enough for people who do not fall into either gender.
The controversy arose on Twitter, when a person named Laurence complained about the message heard on the train. “As a non-binary person, this ad is not addressed to me,” this person explained in a tweet, which is no longer accessible.
” Any sense “
The North Eastern Railway company quickly apologized on Twitter: “I’m so sorry to see this, Laurence, our on-board staff shouldn’t use language like this, and thank you for bringing it to. my attention. Please let me know which route you are traveling on and I will ensure that [les agents] remain as inclusive as we strive to be at LNER. ”
You’d be forgiven for thinking this Train Manager had unleashed a tirade of abuse.
“should not be using language like this”
He’d actually said “Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls”
Identify however you like, but can we stop this nonsense? https://t.co/KuA4hLIQ8O
Mark Jenkinson MP (@markjenkinsonmp) May 12, 2021
An apology that caused a controversy in the country. Conservative parliamentarian Mark Jenkinson also reacted on Twitter, saying the apology made “no sense”. Many users also shared their divergent views, creating a debate on the platform.
Companies have already changed their ads
In England, inclusiveness has been at the center of concerns for several years. Under pressure from LGBT associations at London City Hall, the metro has even already changed its advertisements to make them more inclusive. Instead of the traditional “Ladies and gentlemen”, metro passengers are greeted by “Hi everyone”.
Other countries are also starting to take an interest in the issue, such as Canada. The airline Air Canada thus changed these announcements to make them neutral.
If the issue of inclusive writing has already been controversial several times in France, that of advertising in transport is not yet on the agenda. However, a complaint was recently filed against the SNCF by several groups, including Stop Homophobie, and many people.
But the debate is quite different: the complaint concerned the questionnaires to be completed when purchasing tickets, in which passengers must specify “Mr.” or “Ms.”. The complaint does not question the notion of binarity and inclusiveness but questions respect for personal data.
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