Thread by @NaomiOhReally

The Left's @DaithiLundy eviscerates those who manufactured a US-style 'cancel Christmas' culture war from an EU inclusive language initiative.
It's clearly just about "not being an arsehole in the workplace" he says, scoring a point for Hiberno English

Gather round and I'll tell you the story

https://twitter.com/ajmacconville/status/1469594371012055040?t=7jLoxsXHeUa7t4wGbafiNg&s=19

In October the equality commissioner Helena Dalli unveiled a handbook for European Commission staff about how to make communication inclusive, both within the Commission and in external comms like press releases or presentations

https://twitter.com/helenadalli/status/1452983864591257604?t=mODu40slF6jrzYAFVW62sQ&s=19

Here's the summary: basically, don't assume stuff. Don't assume people are straight, don't assume certain professions are done by certain genders, don't assume religion, use diverse stock images, etc

It's divided into chapters like gender, disabilities, age etc, each one giving guidelines and examples of what to 'avoid' vs 'do this instead'. Eg, here's disabilities and the LGBTI tips

Here's where the trouble began: in 'cultures, lifestyles or beliefs'.
The guidelines suggest not assuming everyone is celebrating Christmas, and if using names in an example or story, venturing beyond names associated with one religion - eg Malika and Julio, vs Maria and John

Enter Il Giornale and Francesco Giubilei, a national conservative writer and polemicist who got a copy of the booklet.
The right-wing paper published an 'exclusive' story with the headline "In Europe forbidden to say 'Christmas' or even call oneself Maria" ilgiornale.it/news/cronache/…

It caused pandemonium on the Italian right, with the leaders of various parties describing it as an attempt to erase 'our history and identity' and calling for a defence of 'the Judeo-Christian values of Europe' ilgiornale.it/news/politica/…

Journalists travelling on Pope Francis' plane back from his visit to Greece asked him about what the Commission had supposedly done, and Francis said it was "watered down secularism" and that "in history, many, many dictatorships have tried to do it" vaticannews.va/it/papa/news/2…

In the Vatican transcript, both the journalist and Pope Francis refer to it as "the EU document on Christmas" so it is clear that neither has read it.
They are likely basing what they think it is about on the misleading Giornale press report and subsequent uproar.

By this point, the Commission had already backtracked and the guidelines were withdrawn to be revised.
"It is not a mature document and does not meet all Commission quality standards," Commissioner Dalli said in a statement.

https://twitter.com/helenadalli/status/1465639346103533573?t=j0GbB5MFE4-lk65KIaWmQg&s=19

Il Giornale declared victory on its front page with the headline "Europe returns Christian".
Francesco Giubilei celebrates, declaring on Facebook "we continue to fight for a Christian Europe".
Fin.

Addendum: I think it's important to point out the willful misunderstanding of what the document was. It was internal: about what Commission staff should do, not a proposal for regulating speech in the EU population.
Corporate comms cringe, yes;
The cancellation of Christmas, no.