Our government is hard at work…celebrating International Pronouns Day.
On Twitter, the official State Department posted “Today on International Pronouns Day, we share why many people list pronouns on their email and social media profiles” with a link to “read more” from @ShareAmerica.
Today on International Pronouns Day, we share why many people list pronouns on their email and social media profiles. Read more here on @ShareAmerica: https://t.co/gWhoItvGvo.
— Department of State (@StateDept) October 20, 2021
The link takes you to an article published July 1 of this year on Share.America.Gov, the website that proudly “educates” on a plethora of issues “about America.” This particular article is titled, “Why do many Americans list pronouns on social media profiles?”
“People have the opportunity then to share how they want to be referred to,” said Shige Sakurai, founder of International Pronouns Day. “Learning names is important too, and learning how to pronounce them correctly is important. To me, [pronouns are] an extension of that — of your name and how you want to be referred to.”
The hard-hitting investigative piece adds “In the United States, it’s becoming increasingly common for people to ‘share their pronouns.” Also, “many Americans are including their pronouns on social media profiles or name tags or as part of email signatures. They state them in meetings, whether online or in person, and at other venues.”
Why is this so important that the government has given it a day? “Knowing and using someone’s pronouns avoids accidentally assuming an incorrect gender based on a name or an appearance” the article states, also referencing a Pew Research Center survey which suggests nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adults knows someone who goes by gender-neutral pronouns.
Lastly, the article boasts how the “White House also debuted a website contact form with gender-neutral pronouns and the nonbinary prefix ‘Mx.” Additionally, “the Department of State announced June 30 that U.S. passport forms will allow applicants to choose male or female gender, regardless of what their other documents indicate, and will eventually include an option for nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people.”
