"Each person has the right to identify their own pronouns, and we encourage you to ask before assuming someone's gender. "Because gender is, itself, fluid and up to the individual," a library sign reads. There are three versions available: "He him his," "She her hers," and "They them theirs," for people who don't identify as male or female. The pins, originally intended for library employees to wear as part of the system's "You Belong Here" marketing effort, have proven popular with students as well. Or as Timon the meerkat sang in “The Lion King” – no worries.īuttons featuring gender pronouns are flying off the library shelves at the University of Kansas, where a campaign headed by the school's library system aims to make students with varying gender identities feel welcome. and continue our conservation research.”I’m sticking with the happy side of zoo life, a source of wonder and joy in a divisive time. National Zoo spokesperson Jennifer Zoon says in an email that the plan holds, but, she adds, “it’s our goal to have giant pandas. Nearly three years ago, during the pandemic shutdown, I wrote about the zoo’s surprise baby panda, called Xiao Qi Ji – “little miracle” – because of his mother’s advanced age.Now we’re counting down to the departure of our panda family to China later this year, per a long-standing agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association. And it’s not hard to get wrapped up in the zoo’s highs and lows. I say “we” because the National Zoo is basically my backyard – close enough to hear the lions roar. The baby girl – named Zahra in a zoo website poll – earns her share of oohs and aahs as she cuddles with mama Calaya in the Great Ape House.This spring, we also welcomed baby black-footed ferrets, Panamanian golden frogs, and Andean bear cubs. Just as exciting was the birth a few weeks later of a western lowland gorilla, a critically endangered species. Think Timon the meerkat from “The Lion King.”It was feeding time.Sadie and Frankie’s pups are the first meerkat births at the National Zoo in 16 years, and like all zoo births, they’re cause for celebration. Frankie the papa meerkat darted about, too, at times scurrying to the top of a log to stand watch. Sadie the meerkat mama darted back and forth between her publicly viewable habitat and an area “backstage,” her three pups close behind. The University of Tennessee recently encouraged the use of gender neutral pronouns.The excitement at the National Zoo’s meerkat exhibit was palpable. “A commitment to support the voices of marginalised people is part and parcel to the libraries’ commitment to the values of the First Amendment,” added Kevin Smith, the university’s libraries dean. “We’ve told all of our front-line employees, if a student asks, give them a button,” Smith said. Rebecca Smith, the chief of communications and advancement at the library, has said workers can choose to wear the buttons but must give them out on demand as students ask.
Pronouns matter! Misgendering someone can have lasting consequences, and using the incorrect pronoun can be hurtful, disrespectful, and invalidate someone’s identity.” “Each person has the right to identify their own pronouns, and we encourage you to ask before assuming someone’s gender. Signs in the library read: “Because gender is, itself, fluid and up to the individual.” “He him his,” “she her hers” and “they them theirs” pins are available. The university is hoping the move will attract prospective transgender students. The pins are being handed out by employees in the library it students as part of the library’s “You Belong Here” effort.
0 kommentar(er)
