High school starts handing out ‘pronoun badges’ to students saying if they prefer to be known as ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’ to help transgender students
- Redcliffe High School in Brisbane has begun handing out the badges to students
- Inclusive pins were trialed last week by the Queensland school’s LGBTI cohort
- Come in three different versions and are labelled she/ her, he/ him or they/them
- School said the badges would help ‘people know what to refer to the wearer as’
An Australian high school is handing out ‘pronoun badges’ to their students so they can tell others whether to call them he, she, or they.
Redcliffe High School in Brisbane’s northeast introduced the badges to promote inclusion among its transgender and non-binary students.
The pins – which were trialed last week by its LGBTIQ students – come in three different versions and are labelled either she/her, he/him or they/them.
Redcliffe High School in Brisbane has introduced ‘pronoun badges’ to promote inclusion among its transgender and non-binary students
‘Pronoun badges are as simple as they sound: they’re badges with different pronouns on,’ the school wrote in a Facebook post.
‘However, their purpose is to display to everyone what those who are wearing them define themselves as. They’re also so that people know what to refer to the wearer as.’
The school was praised on social media for its inclusive approach.
‘Redcliffe High is setting the standard for acceptance,’ one person wrote.
‘Fantastic idea. Helps all teachers, especially relief teachers, and kids to know upfront,’ another wrote.
Pronoun badges were previously used by Victorian public servants to encourage them to use gender-neutral terms.
‘Pronoun badges are as simple as they sound: they’re badges with different pronouns on,’ the school wrote in a Facebook post
The school in Brisbane’s north-east trialed the scheme last week among its LGBTIQ students. The pins come in three different versions and are labelled either she/ her, he/ him or they/them
Staff in 2018 were issued with stick-on badges with the pronouns to help promote the ‘They Day’ initiative.
Victoria’s Opposition spokesman Tim Smith at the time slammed the ‘They Day’ initiative.
‘The Department of Health needs to spend more time on running hospitals and less time on gendered pronouns,’ he said.