Pride Month is Over: Are you still an Ally?
Pride Month is Over: Are you still an Ally?
Each year Pride month serves as a barometer for the progress towards LGBTQIA+ equity and inclusion. June 1st saw a tidal wave of rainbow coloured logos across LinkedIn and in offices — a testament to the widespread corporate acceptance of Pride. While this sort of institutional support would have been considered groundbreaking two decades ago, today this signalling feels par for the course at best, and superficial at worst.
In conversations with colleagues, we discussed what meaningful corporate support and allyship looks like outside of Pride Month. Companies can show up for their LGBTQIA+ in a plethora of ways; by providing funding to Employee Resource Groups, developing inclusive policies or providing gender neutral bathrooms.
These sort of programs and policies take time to develop and launch. However, there was one item on our list that required no funding at all, a simple change that could be made instantly:
Declaring pronouns in work profiles.
Although society has made great strides towards LGBTQIA+ inclusion, there is still a long way to go particularly when it comes to trans and non-binary rights. One of the simplest ways we can support and respect our trans and non-binary friends and colleagues is by declaring our pronouns.
The inclusion of pronouns has become more mainstream in recent years; you’ve no doubt seen this play out on social media and noticed an increase in the inclusion of pronouns on email signatures and profiles on sites like this one. But what are pronouns, and why state them?
Simply put, our pronouns reflect the correct way to address us, and can include (but are not limited to):
They / Their / Theirs
She / Her / Hers
Ze / Zir / Zem
He / Him / His
Pronouns can be an important factor in how we identify ourselves and an integral part of who we are. They give many of us a sense of agency and empowerment as we navigate the world around us.
In a practical sense, including pronouns makes us more conscious about our assumptions and prevents awkward mix ups a trans or non-binary person may experience constantly. The continuous need to correct the pronouns used by those around you can be exhausting and harmful. Adding pronouns to an email signature, business card, or LinkedIn profile are an easy way to prevent this.
The inclusion of pronouns is also a meaningful form of allyship. A visual marker to those in the LGBTQIA+ community that this is a safe space or that they have an ally.
For me, being a woman and a lesbian is only a part of who I am, but it is still a key element of my experience and who I am as a person. I know how painful it can be to have my own identity questioned or denied, and using a person’s correct pronouns is a fundamental way of acknowledging that person as they are. It’s about basic understanding and respect and I’m fortunate that FanDuel supports me in my choice to include pronouns in my professional profiles.
Sharing your pronouns is absolutely a personal choice, and companies mandating the use of pronouns is not my recommendation. There could be a myriad of reasons why someone chooses not to — a person may still be undecided about their gender or not ready to share, for example, and that should be respected.
Normalising the usage of pronouns is a concrete, impactful way to show our advocacy for LGBTQIA+ individuals. It is also a great way to support a segment of the LGBTQIA+ community that is facing increasing challenges and — often — hostility.
By including pronouns in our email signatures, socials or even at the start of meetings by way of introduction (‘Hi, I’m Ally, my pronouns are XXX’), we can proactively and positively show support and acknowledgment every day, hopefully encouraging others to do the same. My hope is that one day the signalling of pronouns will be as ubiquitous as Pride branding in June.
