Schools in Brighton and Hove are handing out stickers to pupils that allow them to express whether they would like to go by “he”, “she” or “they”, or by some other pronoun.
The labels are also being distributed at town halls and libraries and are part of Brighton and Hove City Council’s “My Pronouns are...” badge campaign, which aims to support transgender people and prevent “misgendering”.
The stickers carry statements such as “my pronouns are she/her/hers” and “please use my name”. “There are also blank badges on which people can fill in their own pronouns,” The Times reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Transgender rights campaigner Sophie Cook says that misgendering, or the act of addressing an individual by the wrong pronoun, can be “particularly harmful to transgender school pupils”.
She told local newspaper The Argus: “In these situations, you will have people up in arms. But quite frankly, what difference does it make to those people?
“It’s a great way of making people think about identities of the people they’re talking to.”
A city council spokesperson added: “The badges and stickers help raise awareness that you can’t assume someone’s gender identity and the pronouns they use. We know from a range of evidence that gender is more complicated than is traditionally recognised.”
The Brighton campaign comes after freshers at the University of Edinburgh were given pronoun badges in September to avoid wrong assumptions being made about their identities, The Independent reports.
-
Africa's largest dam is making diplomatic wavesUnder the Radar Ethiopians view using the Nile as a 'sovereign right' but the vast hydroelectric project has 'fuelled nationalist fervour' in Egypt and Sudan
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
-
Trump's drug war is now a real shooting warTalking Points The Venezuela boat strike was 'not a mere law enforcement action'
-
School phone bans: Why they're spreadingFeature 17 states are imposing all-day phone bans in schools
-
Schools: The return of a dreaded fitness testFeature Donald Trump is bringing the Presidential Fitness Test back to classrooms nationwide
-
Send reforms: government's battle over special educational needsThe Explainer Current system in 'crisis' but parents fear overhaul will leave many young people behind
-
Penn wipes trans swimmer records in deal with Trumpspeed read The University of Pennsylvania will bar transgender students from its women's sports teams and retroactively strip a trans female swimmer of her titles
-
Education: Can public schools be religious?Feature A Supreme Court seems ready to rule in favor of religious charter schools in Oklahoma, which could reshape public education
-
America's academic brain drain has begunIN THE SPOTLIGHT As the Trump administration targets universities and teachers, educators are eying greener academic pastures elsewhere — and other nations are starting to take notice
-
Schools' Send crisis: how can it be fixed?Today's Big Question Government urged to reform support for children with special educational needs and disabilities and save councils from bankruptcy
-
Unschooling: the radical education trend raising eyebrowsUnder the radar Some parents are letting their children lead their education
