Students Union hands out pronoun badges to freshers saying ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’

Freshers at Edinburgh University will be offered badges telling fellow students whether to call them he, she or they. 

The move by the students’ union is intended to avoid ‘misgendering’ transgender and non-binary youngsters starting at the university this autumn. 

The badges will be available during the university’s Welcome Week next month, the Sunday Telegraph reports. 

A guide published by the students’ union said people should ‘normalise’ the sharing of pronouns so their classmates know how to refer to them. 

Kai O’Doherty, welfare vice president at the student body, said on Twitter: We’ll be getting pronoun badges at [the union] for any students to use if they want, during Welcome Week and throughout the year!’ 

The guide said it was ‘frustrating and harmful’ for transgender people when others assumed which pronouns to use based on their appearance. 

It suggested that people could add their chosen pronouns to their email signature in an effort to encourage people to speak openly about the subject.  

In a list of ‘best practice’ ideas the guide also suggested it would be more inclusive to welcome ‘everybody’ rather than using the form ‘ladies and gentlemen’. 

The guide said: ‘The purpose of normalising the regular sharing of pronouns is to ensure we’re less likely to be in situations where we don’t know someone’s pronouns.’ 

‘For people who have never been misgendered and whose correct pronouns are used routinely by everyone around them, sharing pronouns can seem silly or boring.

‘However, it’s important to remember that for people who have experienced misgendering or whose pronouns are less common, the simple act of sharing is a welcome and important act of inclusion.’  

The move by the students’ union is intended to avoid ‘misgendering’ transgender and non-binary youngsters starting at the university this autumn