Virgin Atlantic’s landmark gender identity policy that allows cabin crew to “express themselves” through uniform choice has been restricted to just two countries after the airline conducted risk assessments and decided that within the Virgin Atlantic route network, only the United States and Israel were “accepting of non-binary identities”.
Last September, Virgin Atlantic made history when it became the first UK airline to ditch traditional gender-based uniform rules. Instead of a ‘male’ and ‘female’ uniforms, the airline now has a ‘red’ uniform which features a skirt and a ‘burgundy’ uniform which is a three-piece suit.
Cabin crew are meant to be allowed to choose the uniform they want to wear regardless of their gender identity, although the freedom to choose has been severely restricted due to safety fears in many countries because of discriminatory attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ people.
A spokesperson explained that ongoing risk assessments are conducted across the airline’s destinations which take into account “laws and attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community”.
As part of those risk assessments, the airline has reportedly concluded that it is only safe to apply the new gender identity uniform policy on flights to the United States and Israel. On flights to all other destinations, including across the Caribbean, Africa and India, cabin crew must wear a uniform that matches the gender recorded in their passport.
Even when flying to a ‘safe’ destination, cabin crew must carry both uniform sets just in case the plane has to divert to another country and to ‘ensure their safety’.
In a statement, a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told us: “The safety and security of our people and customers is always our top priority.”
“We’re proud our leading Gender Identity Policy allows our people to express themselves through uniform choice. As part of our policy, we complete ongoing risk assessments on all countries we fly to, considering laws and attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community and expressions of identity on a case-by-case basis.”
In the run-up to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last November, it was revealed that Virgin Atlantic had restricted its gender-neutral uniform policy for a special charter flight to get the England team to Doha due to attitudes towards the LGBTQIA+ community in the Persian Gulf country.
In 2021, Virgin Atlantic warned 12 Caribbean countries that ‘state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia’ could be costing them as much as $689 million in lost tourism every year from LGBTQ+ travellers who would rather spend their pink dollars in more welcoming destinations.
Every Caribbean country has a local gay population that is well established and has learnt to navigate the society they live in. For reference, I should add that gay meaning gay men, lesbians and bisexuals. Many of these folks are successful in their respective lives and careers without calling unnecessary attention to themselves. They blend in and add to the colourful tapestry of the Caribbean. Where the problem lies is all the other letters after LGB, the confusion and complexity associated with all the sexual orientations and identities is too much for many to understand and appreciate.
Can’t wait for them to run out of letters and start assigning numbers.
Much more appropriate for the limitless number of genders that are sure to exist in the long run. Why limit yourself to 26 letters and a plus sign when you can go INFINITE with numbers!!
Funny how the only nations that are really tolerant are the ones progressives most endlessly criticize.
Who decided that the US is accepting of any such thing? PYOK? Biden?