Gender pronoun badges handed out at high-security prison

27 September 2021, 16:43

A high-security prison is handing out badges for people to display their pronouns.

HMP Isle of Wight, which holds sex offenders, said its equalities team has been distributing the badges as part of National Inclusion Week.

The prison's Twitter account posted a photo of the badges including he/they, her/they, they/them, him/he and she/her.

There is also another badge which states: “Ask me!”

Tim Loughton, a Conservative MP who is a member of the House of Commons home affairs committee, told the Daily Telegraph: “There is a real problem in this country with getting sex offenders convicted and behind bars in the first place, so the last thing we need to be pandering to is making sure serious criminals have their personal pronouns respected.”

However, it is not clear whether the badges will be offered to inmates, as well as the prison's staff.

National Inclusion Week is organised by Inclusive Employers, which said the scheme is "designed to celebrate everyday inclusion in all its forms". Its theme for 2021 is "unity".

The government's guidance on HMP Isle of Wight, which is set across two sites, reads: "Isle of Wight is committed to providing a safe, secure and decent rehabilitative environment where men can learn new skills to help them in custody and on release."