Can a Dachshund be ‘genderfluid’?

How would you react if your coworker told you his dog is transgender? With laughter? Confusion? Denial? For one unfortunate social worker, this very situation landed her in hot water with her employer and kick-started an absurd legal battle.

Sixty-two-year-old Elizabeth Pitt was employed as a social worker by Cambridgeshire County Council. In January 2023, Pitt, who is a lesbian, attended a meeting of the council’s LGBT employee group. A colleague piped up to say that his dog is ‘genderfluid’. This means that its gender identity supposedly fluctuates depending on the day, time or situation. One day, Fido is cocking his leg up over the fire hydrant, the next she is complaining that the term ‘sausage dog’ is outdated and cisheteronormative.

Somehow, this Dachshund with a brain the size of a walnut was able to not only understand and define its own ‘gender identity’, but also convey that to its owner. Given that dogs can barely get their heads around object permanence, I’m not convinced they’re capable of experiencing gender dysphoria or even ‘identifying’ as anything.

Pitt decided to call this out as nonsense. This then sparked a heated debate about gender identity more broadly, during which Pitt and another co-worker shared their gender-critical views, criticising things like transwomen being allowed to compete in women’s sports or to enter female bathrooms.

For those of us with an ounce of common sense left, these views will sound perfectly reasonable. But Pitt’s trans-Dachshund-owning co-worker lodged a formal complaint with the council. He described her remarks as ‘offensive’ and ‘nasty opinions’. Another colleague who had been present at the meeting said she had a ‘really aggressive tone’.

As a result, Pitt was formally disciplined by her employer. Apparently, her opinions were ‘non-inclusive and transphobic’. She was also told that her comments caused ‘significant offence’ and had a ‘detrimental impact on the mental health and wellbeing’ of her colleagues. She was subsequently banned from attending any more events held by the LGBT group and from contacting its members.

In response, Pitt took Cambridgeshire County Council to a tribunal. This week, a judge concluded that her treatment ‘amounted to harassment / direct discrimination’ on the grounds of her gender-critical views – a ‘philosophical belief’ that is protected by the Equality Act 2010. As a result, Cambridgeshire council will not only have to pay out £55,910 in compensation and to cover Pitt’s legal costs, but it will also have to implement staff training on ‘freedom of belief and speech in the workplace’.

What a colossal waste of everyone’s time and money. Of course it’s not ‘transphobic’ to tell a man that his dog is not ‘genderfluid’ – it is a statement of plain fact. Let’s hope that with the case of the transgender Dachshund, we have reached peak gender lunacy.

Lauren Smith is a staff writer at spiked.