On October 16th, 2019, Kindred Psychology celebrated International Pronouns Day (IPD) with our staff and clients. IPD is a day to celebrate and support our transgender and gender-nonconforming friends! We believe that using a person’s gender pronouns is an easy daily practice with an enormous impact. If you are unfamiliar with the significance of pronouns to gender identity, please read on:

At its core, International Pronouns Day seeks to normalize the act of respecting, sharing, and educating people about gender pronouns. (Think back to school: she/her, he/him, they/them.)

Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is basic to human dignity. As research has shown (Hobaica et al., 2018; Vance, 2018), being misgendered, referred to by the wrong pronouns, or misnamed is particularly harmful to trans- and gender-nonconforming people. These microaggressions increase risk of suicidal ideation among a group of people who already experience higher levels of violence and self-harm in comparison to cisgender people. Moreover, the practice of respecting pronouns is paramount to creating and sustaining an inclusive and supportive community for everyone!

Most importantly, addressing people by their chosen name and pronouns is a fundamental way to affirm and support their gender identity. In short, normalizing the use of pronouns – as well as the habit of never assuming a person’s pronouns – is a practice we can implement in our daily lives to provide support to gender-nonconforming individuals. That’s a goal we can all get behind, right?

If you are wondering how to participate next year, please see the following link for a veritable wealth of ideas brought to you by the organizers of IPD: https://pronounsday.org/participating.