Mandatory pronouns on work email signature

[SamW98]

Morning all

Can one of you ladies point me in the right direction of the wording I can use to fight against this? I do remember seeing links but just a quick reference will be appreciated

Basically my very laid back non political company is as taken over last year by a huge US corp and since then very bit of training is revolved around DEI and being told the ‘correct’ way to think. Email pronouns were rolled out on a voluntary basis with the vast majority of the UK based staff not partaking. This hasn’t gone down well with the big cheeses in the US and they’re bringing in an AI email tool where pronouns are a mandatory field.

Now this is 💯 a fight I’m prepared to take on and my entire team feel the same - none of us want this nonsense. So just really looking for wording to use to put on a team pushback against this unnecessary compelled crap.

Any links/wording/examples to quote would be very much appreciated - this really is a hill we’re all ready to die on. Thank you

You could also argue that this is outing and you prefer to keep your gender identity private

@theilltemperedclavecinist I agree with you why should they have to either 'out' themselves or traumatize themselves more than the distress they usually feel, just let them do their jobs in peace

What are the consequences of you and your team not adding pronouns ? Would you all be disciplined/fired ? Can you all ignore it and say nothing and see what happens ? Or just say myself and my team don't want to do this and leave it at that. You all need to hold firm.

Did anybody else smile at 'Free Speech Union advise on this but you have to be a member to read it.'
It could be worse, it could be behind a paywall
And can I share this again [it's had a couple of appearances elsewhere already] I saw a t-shirt with a picture of a donkey and the slogan 'MY PRONOUNS ARE HE/HAW'.

I promise that's the last time I'll share it!

I got a mandatory Gender question just to use the bladdy Soundcloud app. I went 'Custom' -> "No Gender". FFS what business is it of anyone else in a music app what my gender feelings are like today.

It's £5 a month membership which also includes legal assistance. I would think that was pretty good value if my workplace started to pull stunts like this. They also offer legal advice to members in difficulties for expressing GC views. OP might want to consider protecting herself and getting the best advice before she embarks on her mission. From what I've read a high percentage of the people they help are GC women who have inadvertently found themselves in difficulty at work for expressing their GC beliefs.

Someone posted upthread, the magic words are "my pronouns are private". Simple as that. Don't complain, don't explain.

I was just being silly, Signalbox

I don't understand why ANYONE GC would ever quote the Yogyakarta principles in this way

I suspect because on one level at least it's a slightly satisfying gotcha. It's a way of saying "You TRAs are so illogical and inconsistent that you demand compliance with policies that go against principles your own side set out to protect you!"

Soz.
My silly-ometer was switched off.

Problem is, even just saying that you're engaging with the issue. I'd rather say 'what do you mean pronouns?' with a bewildered look.
Disingenuous, but it's good to make people explain themselves sometimes.

This tangent sprouted because another poster claimed women shouldn't be open about Christian faith at work in case a work colleague took that as a cue to grill them about scripture and theology. So yes, just fundamentalists. No-one else except them, and trans activists, is that clueless about appropriate 21st century behaviour in the workplace. It's absolutely terrible behaviour to respond to a colleague's simple statement of religious/philosophical beliefs with an attempt to browbeat her, and we should be uncompromising in identifying that.

We've been discussing in this thread whether putting any pronouns, including she/her and he/him, on a CV has the potential to damage one's chances of employment, and this is exactly why: people have noticed that having pronouns on one's CV correlates with appalling behaviour in the workplace. If a trans activist responds to a woman saying she's Christian and gender critical by quizzing her about Paul, then the trans activist is harassing a work colleague about her religion, and the woman should straight-up say that she is not there to justify her private beliefs, and she will complain to HR if the harassment continues.

@SamW98 Any update? (Hoping they've backed down)

Nothing more yet just various updates about our ‘exciting and interactive’ email signature tool coming soon. Not quite sure how an email signature can ever be described as exciting but our US owners are the masters of corporate gobbledegook.

We have recently had our DEI training module where we were asked to write a paragraph about what we can do personally to be more inclusive at work and be a true LGBTQIA+ ally which is then marked and graded. I’ve declined to complete it so I’m sure there’s a mark against my name.

I'd take the piss with it.

You have a right to identify as whatever you want. You might not identify that way, but who is to tell you you aren't that identity?

Start off with something obscure but comical...

Fi/Fi/Fo/Fum

I/Snu/Snu

(If you know, you know)

Why the hell not?

@SamW98
"what we can do personally to be more inclusive at work and be a true LGBTQIA+ ally which is then marked and graded. "
Bloody hell!

Yep. And as I wfh 75% of the time and the days I’m in the office there’s about a dozen people there. And my team are overwhelming middle aged and heterosexual I’m not quite sure who I’m supposed to be more inclusive to.

SamW98 · Yesterday 20:20

We have recently had our DEI training module where we were asked to write a paragraph about what we can do personally to be more inclusive at work and be a true LGBTQIA+ ally which is then marked and graded.

I wonder if the LGBTQIA+ have been asked what they can do to support women in the workplace?

"I can stay fully aware of all the relevant chacteristics which are legally protected in the UK under the Equality Act of 2010 - sex, sexual orientation, and gender reassignment, as well as age, disability, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, and religion or belief. I will make sure that everything I do respects all those categories and treats people fairly and respectfully. In this way I will avoid discrimination, I will support LGBTQIA+ people and I will not bring <<the company>> and its efforts to support LGBTQIA+ people into disrepute."

Or to put it another way - up theirs!

Presumably it’s like the oozlum bird? Flies round in ever decreasing circles til it goes up its own fundament.

OP sympathies. I thought my old employer was going to do this and my plan was he/him with precisely zero comment and watch to see if anyone paid attention. For context, I’m obviously female with a female name. I do like “my pronouns are private” though.

marked and graded? To what end? Does the 'winner' get a gold star? A special mention in assembly? Do all your parents get to come in and talk to your bosses and be told how well you're doing and they should be proud (or that you 'could try harder'?)
I'd be talking about this to a union, your HR department (in a 'just curious; what sort of weight/import does this marking and grading carry? way'), your professional body if you have one, someone in government (if there's an appropriate department), and possibly an employment lawyer. I'd be very much on the alert for any subsequent comments or events that might possibly have stemmed from not completing it.

Quick update - they’ve now backtracked and although pronouns on email signatures are ‘strongly recommended’ they’re now optional.

I wonder if they’ve taken legal advice or had negative feedback on this but it’s a victory for those of us who don’t want to play these games.

Good. They shouldn't be able to "tell" anything about someone's opinions by lack of "compliance".

I honestly don't see why you care on this one.

I work with a lot of people who have unusual names (to me!) due to being overseas and having pronouns right there can be quite helpful.

Well Liberty, I don’t agree. If I see email pronouns, I assume you are: (1) American; or (2) a virtue signaler and follower of fashionable fads; or (3) a middle aged bloke who doesn’t give a shiny sh@t about either women’s or gay rights but thinks this gives you a “fractional gains” business edge and makes you look relevant. 2 and 3 are not good, obviously.