Support of Gender Inclusive Pronouns

Nothing may be more personal than the way in which people refer to us through our name and pronouns. Using a person’s chosen name and desired pronouns is a form of mutual respect and basic courtesy. At HRHF, we celebrate diversity and endeavour to be respectful of everyone’s identity and include preferred gender pronouns in our email signatures as one way to do this.

What’s in a Pronoun?

Pronouns are used in the English language – and many languages – in everyday conversation. A pronoun is a word that refers to either the people talking (like “I” or “you”) or someone or something that is being talked about (like “she,” “it,” “them,” and “this”).

Gender pronouns (such as “he/him/his” and “she/her/hers”) refer to people that you are talking about. Gender pronouns are the way that we constantly refer to each other’s gender identity – except we often don’t think a whole lot about them. Usually, we interpret or “read” a person’s gender based on their outward appearance and expression, and “assign” a pronoun. But our reading may not be a correct interpretation of the person’s gender identity.

Because gender identity is internal — an internal sense of one’s own gender — we don’t necessarily know a person’s correct gender pronoun by looking at them. Additionally, a person may identify as genderfluid or genderqueer and may not identify along the binary of either male or female (e.g. “him” or “her”). Some people identify as both masculine and feminine, or neither. A genderqueer or non-binary identified person may prefer a gender-neutral pronoun such as the “they” (e.g. “I know Sam. They work in the Accounting Department”).

Why Pronouns Matter

People should have the option of articulating their preferred name and the way this is articulated may vary across settings.

The experience of being misgendered can be hurtful, angering, and even distracting. The experience of accidentally misgendering someone can be embarrassing for both parties, creating tension and leading to communication breakdowns.

It’s important to remember that gender identity is not visible — it’s an internal sense of one’s own gender. While most people align across their birth-assigned sex, their gender identity, their gender expression and how everyone else interprets their gender — some people do not. A culture that, among other things, readily asks or provides pronouns is one committed to promoting LGBT+ rights & equality.

This explanatory note is adapted from resources available from the Human Rights Campaign.

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