Education

University Of Maryland Celebrates Pronoun Pronouncement Day

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The University Of Maryland celebrated “Pronoun Pronouncement Day” Wednesday in response to a growing transgender celebration movement that has swept across the university.

Pronoun Pronouncement Day was first celebrated at the university in November 2016 and returned this year after a group of transgender students saw an opportunity to educate people on how to talk to and refer to transgender persons, according to The Diamondback. Participants celebrated the day by wearing stickers and buttons with gender-friendly pronouns.

The day includes a list of “pro tips” aimed to help transgender people feel included. The tips offer advice on how students and faculty should engage with their gender queer peers, as well as pronouns and phrases to use when writing, emailing and crafting business cards.

The university shared transgender-friendly pronouns online and displayed messages on screens across the campus, including its student union.

“As a cis person, there is a lot of anxiety about talking about a community that you’re not a part of because there’s a fear that you’ll say something wrong or offend someone,” Global Communities Program Manager Jazmin Pichardo said, the Diamondback reported. “For this campaign, we wanted something that was accessible to everyone,” she added.

The day is a great opportunity to educate cisgender people on how to teach others about inclusive pronouns, transgender UMD student Max Balagtas-Badoy explained. Most transphobic experiences that occur on the university’s campus are a result of ignorance rather than malice, transgender UMD student Sophia Relph also pointed out, according to The Diamondback. “There’s no baseline education” on LGBT issues, Relph said, applauding the day as a place to start.

Wednesday’s Pronoun Pronouncement Day comes after a group of transgenders launched #TransTerps in September.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is also changing its treatment of transgenders, announcing it will let anyone who wants to undergo gender reassignment treatment to do so without a therapist’s or counselor’s consent, according to Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR).

Medical research shows 80-to-95 percent of children outgrow their gender dysphoria naturally and accept their biological sex post-puberty. Top studies show no mental improvement after gender-reassignment surgery and indicate people who successfully transitioned suffered 20 times the suicide rate of their peers and also experienced lifelong mental health issues. (RELATED: Expert Responds To America’s Transgender Movement)

There hasn’t been a single long-term randomized study entailing hormone-blocking treatments effects on children. No laws currently govern or regulate hormone-blocker usage.

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