Today I attended a talk with a new friend that I met at GOTO Amsterdam, Michael Brunton-Spall. (Twitter profile).
He was giving a great talk about security and agile, but that is besides the point of this blog.
What struck me was his introduction, where he said his name, what he did and that his pronouns were He/His/Him. I liked it, but couldn’t but my finger on why.
I have several trans friends and I do my best to always use their proper pronouns. I do sometimes forget when I have known them before the transition, but I try.
And I have seen twitter profile where people state their pronouns, but never heard someone in the non-virtual world introduce himself, themselves, or herself this way.
So after the talk, I asked Michael: “Why did you use your pronouns when introducing yourselves?”
He told me that many trans feel compelled to explain their pronouns and this is one of the few things he can do as a white-cis-male to help normalise gender awareness and to open peoples mind to the possibility that those may not have been his pronouns.
I never considered this. I like the idea and it feels like something that is easy to do, and could mean a lot to a bunch of people. So I am strongly considering to start doing this.
My only worry is: what would trans people think about me white-cis-female doing this? Would they feel offended? Would they appreciate it? Would it help them?
What do you think?
Update:
One of my friends showed me this page on pronouns, so if you want to look more, check out this: Gender Pronouns