While commuting on the LNER, Laurence Coles, a train guard and LGBTQ+ rep for the RMT union, became uncomfortable after the conductor used the gender-exclusive phrase.
Taking to Twitter, Coles expressed their disappointment for the employee’s language. “‘Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls….’So as a non-binary person, this announcement doesn’t actually apply to me so I won’t listen,” they tweeted.
Charlotte Monroe, a friend of Coles, was also present at the time of the incident and tweeted their disappointment to LNER as well. “I was sat with Laurence when this tweet was sent.
Both of us are non-binary, and we were both alarmed and uncomfortable by the lack of inclusion,” they wrote. Like Coles, Monroe is also a railway