Name badge...it's happening

[Isthisexpected]

Been told my new name badge with my pronouns on is coming next week. I haven't even been asked what my pronouns are... I don't intend to wear it because I don't hold the belief system it represents. But I now fear for my job/ stress levels are raised thinking about what's to come. Ignoring it is no longer an option...that has worked with email signatures....

What have you done?

Or Witch. 🧙

Oh and the way I was informed about it was in the weekly team brief. So no email asking me if I wanted it etc just a verbal "by the way..." to the entire team face to face. Did wonder if that was deliberate.

Join the Free Speech Union. They have great resources on how to deal with this and if it gets to legals offer you advice and potentially represent you.
https://freespeechunion.org/

Can you say you refer to your protected characteristic to protect privacy. Or if forced I'd try, Karen- It

I hope a lot of people did that. That way they're deprived of the data they spend money trying to collect. If enough people clicked 'none of these' then they still don't know how many women there are. Money well spent.

That's perfect.

Your pronouns are Her/Majesty

It's useful information so that you can refer to people correctly in the third person and not accidentally misgender them

Except it’s not that at all is it, if we’re being honest. The whole point of declared pronouns is so that some people can insist others use a pronoun they’re told to that does not match the sex they see/hear/know. Because when it comes to “gender” (which is then actually used to mean sex), unlike any other mutually exclusive categorisation system, you apparently are the sex you say you are, instead of your actual sex, for no good reason that anyone can explain. It’s about one particular group of people being given the power to compel other people to speak incorrectly, not correctly, and then being expected to signal that you kowtow to that whole concept.

If this was really about helping people to get each others’ sex right then badges could say male or female in accordance with reality. Oddly enough we’ve managed without that for thousands of years.

And why not display your ethnicity, age, disability status and height at all times in case someone gets them wrong? It’s because when it comes to those things you aren’t “what you say you are” and you don’t get to compel others to agree with you. So there’s no need for a charade pretending everyone gets to announce what theirs is in solidarity.

It's certainly not what I want.

Pronouns are a normal part of speech. Nobody owns pronouns. I frequently use pronouns to refer to people, animals and things. I follow the normal rules of English when doing so. I would like others to do the same.

Putting pronouns on a badge suggests a belief that the pronouns people should use to refer to you are ones of your choosing and can be changed at will. That is not a belief I subscribe to so I would consider wearing a badge with pronouns similar to wearing a badge stating that I am a Hindu (I'm not).

For anybody wrestling with this issue at work, the section headed "Cautions" here might be of assistance...

Preferred gender pronoun - Wikipedia

It makes a lot about people not wanting to be outed and feeling uncomfortable abou the whole thing

Practically speaking OP, I think you can avoid this by saying something like “i don’t feel ready to share my pronouns and don’t think people’s gender identity should be outed if they don’t want that” and request a pronoun-less badge as that reflects how you feel about yourself at the moment. With a terribly earnest face on.

however I do like hag. I think Hag/Bag would suit me.

And as a PP said, being “misgendered” has been made into this huge deal, when in fact being mis-sexed is just a fact of life. Sometimes people mistake another person’s sex, as a tomboy and now a tall woman with short hair it’s happened to me quite a lot. Most often a child, someone with bad eyesight, dementia, or from a distance etc. If corrected they apologise and we all move on. I’ve done it myself too - about a shorter person with long hair seen from behind, thought it was a woman and it was a man. It happens.

“Misgendering” a trans person is even more understandable as it involves reading their sex correctly using cues we have evolved to use instinctively. Why can’t trans people just be understanding and kind and get over it and move on like everyone else?

"... Why can’t trans people just be understanding and kind and get over it and move on like everyone else?"

Well there'd be no point fun in it then, would there?

I’d return whatever badge they sent me, tell them I won’t compel anyone else’s speech and ask for them to be left blank. So sorry you’re having to deal with this OP.

When my pronouns were included in a letter that referred to me in the 3rd person by a colleague, I immediately emailed said colleague, demanding they were removed and saying I had never disclosed this information, and therefore never given permission for them to be shared.
I got an immediate apology, and they were removed. The person was v embarrassed and I think, simply acting on instructions from someone else
It still rankles though.

That's so funny. And ironic! I thought the whole point of the pronouns was so that people didn't get to assume what gender you are on your behalf and there your colleague goes assuming what your gender is on your behalf in order to state your pronouns. On your behalf! 🤣

Firstly, who told you a new badge with pronouns is arriving?

have you ever been asked what they are? Or whether you have any preferred ones?

or has it just been assumed and added to your new badge?

if they’re going along with the pronouns nonsense then they may as well do it properly or not at all, what a major fail.

your choices are not to wear it/return it and tell them you aren’t participating in that shit as you’re not homophobic or misogynistic and don’t like being part of the lies which have been sold to people which can endanger their health and wellbeing and put them on a medical pathway for life if they go down the surgery/medication route. And tell em you don’t like making big Pharma even more rich at the expense of vulnerable people. That oughta do it.

Well there'd be no point fun in it then, would there?

Some do though which shows it’s possible. Buck Angel has talked about this, saying it’s OK to get over yourself and not make a fuss about it.

neopronounlist.carrd.co/#nonthemed

Find a good one from this ridiculous list. I'd go for 💀/💀s/💀self myself as that may cause a few issues with the printing 😬

I'd be inclined to say you're agender, so therefore don't have any gender based pronouns. So please to leave them off your badge.

Lots of good suggestions.
I would either say something along the lines of “I do not feel comfortable disclosing my pronouns”, as others suggested, or simply say “my pronouns are “I/me”.

Mandating pronouns is harmful to the most vulnerable trans people. It forces people who must be closeted for their safety (perhaps because they must conceal their gender identity from their family or religious community and some of their religious community work alongside them) to out themselves or lie each day. It forces people who are questioning their gender identity to nail their colours to the mast before they are sure of how they feel.

As others have said, it's also a violation of right to freedom of expression and freedom of belief, as established by Forstater, for gender critical people.

How are you supposed to know how to pronounce that? Ridiculous

Especially as political, philosophical, and religious beliefs are classed as special category data and the bar to justify collecting it is higher than for non-special category data.

And when does anyone ever address you by pronouns anyway? It's easy to overlook the grammatical offence in all the ideological craziness.