TechFed Nashville offers a supply of pronoun buttons to our member events as a way to encourage an inclusive and welcoming environment at locally organized tech events. These pronoun buttons allow people to share the pronouns by which they like to be addressed so that other participants know how to refer to them.
Though most people are cisgender, having a gender identity which matches the sex they were assigned at birth, many people experience gender differently and may prefer to be called by a set of pronouns that is not obvious by their appearance or name. Just as it is polite to call someone by their preferred name, it is polite to refer to them by their preferred pronouns.
Why wear a pronoun button?
Wearing a pronoun button makes your pronouns explicit and helps to normalize asking and talking about them, as opposed to assuming or guessing. And if everyone is wearing them – not just the people who need them – then it’s normal, rather than a mark of being different. So even if you don’t need to wear a pronoun button for people to correctly guess your preference, wearing a pronoun button shows your support for those who do and signals your support and acceptance of them in our community.
We provide four types of pronoun buttons: he/him/his, she/her/hers, they/them/their and one with blanks to fill in. The blank buttons can be written on with permanent or dry-erase markers, allowing people to specify pronouns beyond the familiar options (of which there are many) and even to change their pronouns during the event, as a genderfluid person might want to do.
We invite you to help us build a more-inclusive and inviting tech community by choosing to wear a pronoun button at events and by striving to refer to people by their prefered pronouns. We’re also happy to answer any questions you might have (or connect you with a knowledgeable person) about pronoun buttons, gender identity or building an inclusive and diverse community.
FAQ
- If I’m cisgender, why should I wear a pronoun button?
- Where can I learn more about gender identity?
- Where can I learn more about pronoun buttons?
- How can I request pronoun buttons for an event?
References:
– Jordan Rose: Pronoun Buttons
– Peter Hosey: Pronoun buttons: A way to take the guesswork out of gender
– Colleges work on gender inclusivity with pins, pronouns