The term “transgender” encompasses people who live substantial portions of their lives expressing an innate sense of gender other than their sex assigned at birth. The word “transitioning” is used to describe the period of moving away from one’s assigned sex into closer alignment with gender identity.
It is very important to address transgender people the way they prefer to be addressed as a sign of respect. Many have questions about how to send signals of inclusion to transgender people, and below are basic principles of inclusion:
★ Always use the name they chose. That name is the one they chose to refer to themselves.
★ Do not ask about the names they used before they transitioned.
★ It is nice to ask “what pronoun do you use?” when first meeting someone.
★ If you make a mistake by saying the wrong pronoun, correct yourself quickly and
try not to repeat the mistake. If you hear someone else use an incorrect pronoun,
correct them by saying “I think Melissa uses she/her/hers pronouns.”
★ If you know that someone is transgender, it is not your business to tell other
people that information.
★ Regardless of how someone identified in the past, use their current pronoun and
name. You would not tell a past story and use their past pronoun and name, you
would use their current ones.
★ Use more inclusive language such as “everyone” or “people” instead of “ladies
and gentlemen.”
★ Try not to make assumptions about the genders of people you interact with.
★ “They” is a very accepted pronoun and can include everyone.
