A small change to the language in our dresscode

BLUF • policy

Submitted by Nigel Whitfield, Director, 06 August 2021

 

Index

Following feedback from a couple of people, a small change has been made to the description of the BLUF dresscode, though the code itself remains the same.

For many years, we have listed things that are explicitly not included the dresscode, and for a number of years, part of that description said "Skinhead gear, cross-dressing, rubber gear, denim Great if you like these, but they're not part of the BLUF dresscode either."

The same phrase was used, in translation, for our other three principal languages.

This year, a couple of people have expressed concern that this language was an attempt to exclude trans people from membership of BLUF. That has never been the intention, and we have made clear on numerous occassions that BLUF welcomes trans men as members. Personally, I think in the context, it is quite clear that the use of the phrase "cross-dressing" was not intended to be interpreted that way.

Nevertheless, language and sensitivities change, and so that list of exclusions has been reworded. The text now says "Skinhead gear, workgear, sports, rubber, denim and other fetishes Great if you like these, but they're not part of the BLUF dresscode either." with translated versions for German, French and Spanish.

BLUF's position on trans members remains as it has been since 2012, and as set out in this blog post in 2018, viz BLUF is a club for people who identify as men. And trans men are men.