Gay pronomen
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s okay! Everyone slips up from moment to time. The top thing to do if you use the mistaken pronoun for someone is to say something right away, like “Sorry, I meant (insert pronoun)”.
If you realize your mistake after the fact, apologize in private and move on.
A lot of the period it can be tempting to go on and on about how awful you feel that you messed up or how hard it is for you to get it right. Please don’t! It is inappropriate and makes the person who was misgendered feel awkward and responsible for comforting you, which is absolutely not their job.
Taking an active role in your classes, you may hear one of your students using the incorrect pronoun for someone. In most cases, it is appropriate to gently rectify them without further embarrassing the individual who has been misgendered. This means saying something like “Alex uses the pronoun she,” and then moving on. If other students or faculty are consistently using the wrong pronouns for someone, do not ignore it! It is important to let your student realize that you are their ally.
It may be appropriate to approach them and say something like “I noticed that you were getting referred t
Understanding Pronouns
Pronouns are the words we use to point to to people when we’re not talking directly to them, and they can be used instead of names in conversation. Often, they have gendered implications when we use them. Common pronouns include she/her/hers, he/him/his and they/them/theirs.
Everybody has pronouns that they like to be called by, not just trans and non-binary people.
Some people may ask to be addressed with they/them/their pronouns, instead of he/him/his or she/her/hers.
Others may believe that it is grammatically incorrect to use they/them/theirs to refer to a singular person, however this is false. We commonly use they/them/their to refer to people we can’t see or don’t personally know, and in classical literature, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare and Jane Austen all used them/them/their pronouns to refer to singular characters.
We can’t always tell someone’s gender just by looking at them, and we know there are more genders than just “man” and “woman”. Using they/them pronouns for people as standard before you know their gender or pronouns can be a useful way to avoid using the erroneous pronouns by mi
LGBTQIA+
What does LGBTQIA+ or gender non-conforming mean?
LGBTQIA+ (or LGBT) is an English abbreviation for various gender identities and sexual identities– these identities are self-definitions, i.e. they are not determined by the outside world.
In Germany, the German abbreviation, LSBTTIQ ("lesbisch, schwul, bisexuell, trans, transsexuell, intersexuell, queer") is often used.
Lesbians are women or people who identify as feminine in any way who are attracted to women or people who identify as feminine in any way. Gays are men or people who identify as masculine in any way, who are attracted to men or people who identify as masculine in any way.
People whose gender identity does not correspond to the gender they were assigned at birth are referred to as trans*/transgender/transident.
Inter*/intersex people are people with physical gender characteristics that cannot be clearly categorised as exclusively "male" or "female".
Asexual people possess little to no interest in sexual acts.
Being non-binary means feeling neither exclusively male nor female but beyond traditional gender categorisations. This can have distinct effects; the person may identify as agender
Pronouns & Inclusive Language
Below is a brief overview of pronouns and inclusive language. This is by no means an exhaustive guide to treating transsexual people equitably.
What are pronouns?
Pronouns are linguistic tools that we use to point to to people (, she/her/hers, he/him/his). We believe that it is important to give people the opportunity to state the pronoun that is correct to use when referring to them.
Pronouns are integral to who we are, and we share pronouns because we want to elude assuming someone's pronouns based on factors like appearance. By sharing our own pronouns routinely, we encourage others to do the equal and demonstrate that we understand the importance of sharing pronouns. Using someone’s accurate pronouns is an crucial way of affirming someone’s identity and is a fundamental step in entity an ally.
Common pronouns involve she/her/hers, he/him/his, and they/them/theirs. There are other nonbinary pronouns. It is vital to ask people what their pronouns are. If you have questions, politely ask the person if they feel comfortable giving examples of how to use those pronouns.
Examples of Pronouns:
(This is NOT an exhaustive list. An
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