The NHS needs to give back the rainbow

“Oh but Jack, stop being so selfish and let us share the rainbow” you might say.

It’s not about being selfish, it’s about safety.

As an LGBTQ+ person, rainbows have historically been a sure symbol of a safe space. If I see someone wearing a rainbow, I assume they’re also LGBTQ+ or an ally, and feel safer to disclose the details of my gender and sexuality.

Walking around the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospitals on placement in 2021, a huge number of people are wearing rainbows — the 2020 “I’ve had my flu jab” badge has a rainbow on it, and more and more people are wearing rainbow lanyards (bought by the trust as an LGBT+ symbol pre-covid), to show their support of the NHS.

In doing this, you are obscuring our safe spaces.

A hospital is a very difficult place for LGBTQ+ people to be (especially trans people)— you’re meeting new people all the time, so there’s often an onslaught of misgendering. There’s deadnaming if you’ve not legally changed your name. There’s a lack of privacy, and an assumed level of comfort with nudity. Doctors and nurses hand over your care to colleagues by saying “Here we have an X year old woman” or “Y year old gentleman”. You’re frequently reduced to a legal name, date of birth , and binary sex.

If we see someone wearing a rainbow in a hospital, we assume a certain level of competence and sensitivity in dealing with LGBTQ+ people, and we assume we are safe to talk to them about the burden of all of this, and hope they will be our advocate amongst their colleagues.

Just that one person who is a competent ally being there during your hospital stay makes the biggest difference. Now we can’t find these people. Instead, we risk disclosure to dangerously homophobic or transphobic people.

Please, please, please, if you work in the NHS — stop wearing a rainbow, or educate yourself on how to be the best ally possible. Give us our safe space back.

Your job is to save or improve the lives of humans. LGBTQ+ people are humans too.

Stay safe,

J xx