SNOWFLAKE heritage bosses have banned tour guides from using ‘non-inclusive’ terms like mum, dad and family.
The bizarre diktats from Historic Environment Scotland, who run hundreds of attractions including Edinburgh Castle, also cancels phrases like ‘ladies and gentlemen’ and ‘boys and girls.’
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They give alternatives for guides to use like ‘grown-ups’ and ‘buddies’ and order staff to ‘apologise and learn’ if they are corrected by a guest.
The ‘Inclusive Language – LGBT+ guidance for customer facing colleagues’ was revealed in a Freedom of Information request to the taxpayer-funded body.
HES denied banning any words but admitted to offering ‘inclusive alternatives’ to commonly used language.
But critics slammed the woke garbage and demanded it be scrapped immediately.
Simon Calvert, depute director of The Christian Institute, said: “Apparently this lot thought Orwell’s ‘1984’ was a manual, not a moral tale.
“Don’t they realise how offensive it is to treat words that refer to being male and female like some dirty secret?
“Women want to be recognised as women and men want to be recognised as men.
“We all agree that it’s important to be polite to trans and non-binary individuals.
“But words like ‘mum’, ‘dad’, ‘sister’, ‘brother’, ‘son’ and ‘daughter are precious.
“To try to delete them from public conversation is wrong. It is exclusion in the name of inclusion. It certainly doesn’t make people feel welcome.”
The guide in the form of a table has been distributed to all staff who welcome the five million visitors a year so the attractions all across the country.
Non-inclusive terms like mum and dad and changed to grown-ups or adults while sister or brother are changed to friend, buddy or everyone.
Him/her and she/he are changed to they/their/we/our and phrases including son or daughter and altered to children instead.
The diktat states: “The most important thing is to avoid presuming that you can accurately tell a person’s gender or background.
“It is better to use gender-neutral and inclusive language so that everyone feels welcomed and respected.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Rachael Hamilton said: “It is difficult to imagine how anyone would be offended by the innocent language HES has taken issue with. This advice may be well-intentioned, but it is lacking in all common sense.
“By telling staff not to use these completely normal words and phrases, HES has only ensured staff will spend more time second guessing themselves than engaging with visitors to Scotland’s most famous attractions.
“They should scrap this stifling guidance and allow employees to do their jobs and express themselves freely and naturally on the topics they know best.”
A spokesman for Christian Action Research and Education for Scotland said: “The idea that people will be offended by the use of everyday terms rooted in biological reality is ridiculous.
“What’s truly offensive is a taxpayer-funded organisation compelling its staff to use political language to satisfy the demands of gender ideologues.”
Marion Calder, from For Women Scotland, said: “This pre-supposes everyone is permanently wired to be offended.
“ What this is really about is pushing, yet again, a political agenda and supporting self-id.
“This is drifting into compelled speech or to put it another way requesting staff to check their thinking.”
A spokeswoman for HES said: “Our guidance for Visitor Operations staff categorically does not ban the use of any words or phrases – it gives some examples of commonly used language and suggests more inclusive alternatives.
“This is to ensure our staff can avoid presuming a person’s background and use inclusive language so that everyone feels welcomed and respected.”
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Source: The Sun
