By Sylvia Tang, Community Health Planner
By Siavash Zohoori, Storytelling Program Specialist
Since February 2017, Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) staff have added gender pronouns to our e-mail signatures and started introducing ourselves in meetings with our gender pronouns.
Why is this important?
It is important for us to share our pronouns because we cannot know someone’s pronoun just by knowing their sex or the way a person looks or sounds. And accurately using a person’s pronoun is a basic way to validate and respect one’s gender identity.
While I am usually addressed by my correct pronouns (She/Her/Hers), I know many transgender and gender non-conforming individuals do not have that same privilege. On a daily basis, many of our clients/consumers, family members and community members feel invalidated and disrespected by individuals and institutions because they were not correctly addressed with their pronoun. This is especially concerning since sexual minorities are more likely to have substance use and mental health issues compared to sexual majority counterparts, according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
What can you do?
Whether you are a working professional, student or community member, you can add your pronoun in your e-mail signature or add your pronouns to your name tags (see image). Read more
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