Pronouns at work - help

I would ignore until someone speaks to you about it. Then, depending on how brave/secure you’re feeling you can go from the mild “I don’t feel comfortable” without specifying why, through to its discrimination against those who don’t have a gender identity/hold GV beliefs

HelloCrocus, a pp quotes Principle 6 - The Right to Privacy above. Is that 'a lot of nonsense'?

Working for a large corp, I have a noticed that the he-himmer notifications have disappeared from some who I know to be gay and increased in married het men with children.

Go figure.

I think this whole pronoun thing is a nonsense. Is there a list of acceptable pronouns, do we all have to learn neo pronouns and if so is the employer willing to pay me for the time taken to do this? Also how often is it acceptable to change them, daily, weekly, monthly? How much longer will it take me to double check that every report I write has the correct pronoun for each individual? Will I get paid for this extra work? What are the consequences of any mistakes? Was I employed on the basis that I am a woman (highly unlikely considering discrimination laws), if so why is it important that I make a declaration on my email. If people want to do it let them but forcing people to do it - no thank you!

There have other threads on this if you have a search. Suggestions include:

• just state you won't be doing it without explaining
• stereotype threat for women
• not wishing to announce (or underline with emphasis) your sex to ppl you communicated with. Especially if this makes you think it will open you up to sex discrimination, eg if it's a sexist male dominated industry.

I would not try and be clever with the Yogakarta Principles or pretend I was still mulling over my gender identity, because that all lends credence to the whole thing. They won't get it. They will just think you actually take it seriously.

This is a good point. Personally I would just do nothing. If they really started making an issue about you not doing it (as opposed to merely sending round robin emails imploring all employees to be more 'inclusive'), I'd bring up the email signature swap story: www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/what-happened-when-a-man-signed-work-emails-using-a-female-name-for-a-week_n_58c2ce53e4b054a0ea6a4066

(Sorry OP - I realise your situation is different because you've been ordered to do it.)

I would not try and be clever with the Yogakarta Principles
Why 'clever'? They are a simple and universal human-rights principle.

"It's not a practice I follow."

Sex Matters have a Pronouns at Work guide you can download on their website, and that's where I got the above brilliant line from.

I would not try and be clever with the Yogakarta Principles or pretend I was still mulling over my gender identity, because that all lends credence to the whole thing. They won't get it. They will just think you actually take it seriously.

What I did when this first came up at work (an intranet post by our resident social justice warrior), I brought it up with my manager in our one-to-one, and said I wasn't a fan, wasn't planning on doing it, and I hoped that was not a problem with her. She said she also didn't like it (though it was clear she'd never really given it much thought either), and we certainly didn't have to.

Interestingly, there was an increase in pronouns in signatures until (mysteriously) people dropped them, one by one. We have to change our signatures every few weeks and people just didn't put pronouns in their new ones. Even the email signature guidance changed, having briefly mentioned pronouns. I don't know whether something happened to change their minds, or whether they just felt a bit silly.

Saying you have to put pronouns is discriminatory against people with gender critical beliefs. There are other negatives, such as stereotype threat, outing people who aren’t ready, privacy, GDPR. But at it’s basic level, this is a discriminatory act on their part.

I tried to spend a week (lasted two days) noting situations when I might use pronouns about other people. It was overwhelmingly when they were not present (and I can't say I care how someone might mention me in those cases). In the presence of others, it seemed cold to refer to a third person IN the third person.

I've only been faced with a badge that had a pronouns space at the bottom. I put Protected / Characteristic.

Is he very tempted to ask HR what the % of staff who declared their pronouns to be different from their sex is.

I delete contacts who use these now - and not a single one has actually used a pronoun different from their sex.

It would be more useful if their added how they take their tea - because I advise staff (for it is part of my job) to NOT discuss personal information with clients or suppliers unless it’s relevant (NO politics, religion, football… ever).

I'd just ignore it. Then if anyone asks, say 'I don't want to' politely. If they persist, point them to the Yogyakarta Principles.

Ask them if they're permitted to hold information about your beliefs about your own masculinity/ femininity under GDPR, and if so, how long it will be kept for and what the purpose is.

Then ask them how you find out which pronouns you have, as you don't want to get it wrong.

I am not in a position where anyone could harm me personally about any of this, so maybe it is not my place to say.

But could you not just tell the truth? "I do not wish to add pronouns to my email sig because despite what some may affect to believe -- there is actually no such thing as gender identity."

As a PP has said and linked to, refer them to Principle 6 of the Yogyakarta Principles (a human rights document about sexual orientation and gender identity)

Principle 6 - The Right to Privacy

Everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, is entitled to the enjoyment of privacy without arbitrary or unlawful interference....The right to privacy ordinarily includes the choice to disclose or not to disclose information relating to one’s sexual orientation or gender identity ....

I would start off by ignoring it, which is what I'm doing at the moment - and I'm far from being the only one.

If I'm. asked why I've not done it, I plan to keep my answer as short as possible, e.g. 'I don't want to, thank you.'

If they persist I plan to say that gender identity can be a very personal thing and ask them why they're compelling people to declare it. I will phrase it as a question and tell them the bare minimum.

There seem to be a flurry of these threads recently, I wonder if Stonewall have been putting extra pressure on the "champions" in their protection racket.

I can’t wait for this guff to blow over and people to wake up.

yogyakartaprinciples.org/principle-6/#:~:text=The%20Right%20to%20Privacy,on%20their%20honour%20and%20reputation.

It's transphobic to demand this.

That’s not a GDPR issue (you have already identified yourself by having your name on there).

Why is this anyones bloody business?

Ask them why you are being expected to reveal personal information in your email sig - surely this is a GDPR issue.