If you call somebody by their name, you can never mess up their gender.
Ok Alex, Shelby, Erin. Unless you mean like if you ignore the entire concept and rely solely on their name with no formalities.
As a trans woman who routinely has to deal with "shop talk" my advice is that since theyre young explain the way that it works to them and let them know how to speak up when shit gets uncomfortable.
Cleaning it up and getting professional and polite would theoretically be great, but the fact is that their career will involve this and if everyone has to clean up their language resentment will build and people will just exclude them. Meanwhile everyone should feel comfortable saying "too far" or "hey you're hitting a sore spot" or even "not cool".
Good on ya for making an effort and being open to learning. I would buy you a beer if I could.
I can't speak for trans people, but i would expect that the best course of action is to be yourself and dont mock anyone. You can rib and have a laugh, but dont open with a whole script of trans jokes. Get to k ow them, like you would with anyone and learn the boundaries naturally. If you think of them as different, you will be on edge the whole time and are more likely to mess up.
If you make any mistakes, just be sure to apologise, and i am sure any of them would understand. Ultimately, as far as i understand it, trans people just want to be accepted and allowed to be them selves and be a part of society. The only way that happens is if we dont treat them differently, whether thans positively or negatively.
You're not a dick for getting someone's pronouns wrong... You're a dick if you intentionally and continuously misgender them on purpose.
I still mess up my sister's spouse. They're NB, but kept their name, hobbies, etc. To me, they're the exact same awesome person they've always been, so I still screw up and call them by male pronouns.
I 100% support them, but I screw up and it feels bad.
Exactly. Sure it sucks when it happens by accident, but it's to be expected to some extent. It's when someone is doing it intentionally to fuck with you that it really gets under your skin. It's disrespectful.
Well, I have had two people tell me very rudely that I'm an asshole because I got their pronoun wrong because they had it at the start of the presentation somewhere. And I also have had dozens more who corrected me politely a couple of times and then I'd just remember the right pronouns.
Assholes are assholes magrinalized or not.
Well, one thing I know is: make sure you don't out them. If a kid has transphobic parents, you really don't want to accidentally inform them their kid is trans.
I mean I just stay out of peoples personal lives as a principal
I'd avoid any and all controversial topics and just keep things purely professional.
Used to be I'd engage with someone based on their physical presentation, but even that is a bit tricky anymore, and with social media blowing up even the most minor misunderstandings, it's best to just keep it professional.
Pick the one that's been working there longest and ask them these questions. Check in they feel ok with how the workplace is trucking
Honestly, just tell them to let you know, in private if they feel it necessary, if you make them uncomfortable. In general, jokes about people being trans/gendernonconforming are ok, as long as it's not the one "joke" -- identifying as an attack helicopter/dragon/ridiculous things. Pretty much just don't make fun of them for being trans, but it's fine finding humor about their transition, if it makes sense. It's generally pretty easy to tell when someone has a problem with you being trans and is going to be a dick to you under the veil of humor, and when someone is joking around with you. Just make sure they know to let you know if you make them uncomfortable, and tey not to be a dick. The fact that you're asking makes me think pretty much anything you'd consider saying is forgivable at worst.
Edit: I kinda fixated on the joke part, mostly because everything else is pretty simple. If you mess up pronouns or anything like that, don't make a big deal out of it, just correct yourself and move on. They're just another person
I want to live in the timeline where a super-scientist gets sick of the attack helicopter meme and makes "attack helicopter reassignment surgery" possible and available.
Im trans with over 10 years of experience in the industry
--
There's really not a lot to it. We just want a basic level of respect and empathy. Respect their chosen names and pronouns, and don't ask them random questions about being trans unless they're open to it. Trust them when/if they talk about their experiences, they know more about themselves than you do. Reassure them that their job is a safe space.
Happy to answer any questions.
Edit: if you slip up on name/pronouns, simply apologize, correct yourself, and move on. We know people aren't always trying to be malicious. Hell, my dad still slips up on my pronouns.
Im trans with over 10 years of experience in the industry
The... trans industry? How much does it pay?
Depends on who you ask
Lol gonna get me a job forcefemming people
:3
Just start saying 'they' for everyone that's work related. No matter on LGBT status.
Makes it easier to not fuck up.
Use they, unless you know their pronouns. Unfortunately, a lot of people use "they" because they don't want to use the correct pronouns and it seems more innocent than just overtly misgendering someone.
þey
As a trans person, no, do not do this. This is known as degendering people. It shows a total disregard for putting forth any effort to understand or respect others. We always know when people do this because it is still misgendering when you know their pronouns are not they/them.
While using they/them pronouns for all queer people or using a person’s name instead of a pronoun might feel easier for certain people, this is also a form of misgendering called “degendering.”
https://lgbtq.ucsf.edu/pronouns-101
It feels gross, it's not a viable solution.
I already do this with because of how many people I know and work with that have names not exclusively used by men or women.
Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to do something along the lines of stating upfront that "if anyone in the company does anything to offend you, please report it to the appropriate channels. You'll have our full support. We're here to get work done, not to make people feel bad"
You're not likely going to say by accident something they haven't heard before, or to offend them in a new and novel way, But establishing and occasionally reinforcing the fact that they don't have to tolerate it, that putting up with abuse is not part of their job, and that they have the boss's backing at the same level of the non-LGBTQ employees should they find themselves being abused or offended, would probably go a decent way in minimizing the risk of something actually bad happening.
"... and if I accidentally say or do something offensive, tell me and I'll try to learn better."
please report it to the appropriate channels
Telling them that you personally will be there for them is really the only guarantee you can make without blindly relying on third parties to act with compassion. So telling them to come to you so that you can then together go through the rest of the process is imo the better idea. They can always choose to just ignore you, but making them go to some shitty HR office by themselves also sucks.
Yeah, I’d only encourage reporting if I knew 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt that the person who would be taking the report is also an ally. And even then, I’d still hesitate to encourage it.
My workplace is… Interesting. I work in an arts department for an employer which doesn’t do a lot of art otherwise. Each department is managed by a specific person in HR. My department happens to be managed by a raging transphobe. We also happen to have the highest amount of trans people per capita than any other department… Because, ya know, art.
Our HR person requires that they use their deadname for all of their work stuff. Their work email uses the initials for their deadname. Their Windows username uses their deadname. Their RFID ID badge and name tag both use their deadname. Et cetera… She claims it is company policy to require official government names on everything.
Except it’s not. That policy doesn’t exist. It’s just something she makes up every time a trans person gets hired. There’s even someone in HR who uses a chosen name for all of their work stuff. They literally share an office. Our hiring manager has tried to go through or around this one specific transphobe multiple times, but gets bounced back to her every single time. Because apparently the “your department has a specific HR person” is a rule that is enforced throughout all of HR, but the deadname thing is only enforced by our specific HR person.
The hiring manager does what he can to insulate them from it, but there are certain things he can’t control. For instance, he orders them new custom name tags, so they don’t have to walk around with their deadname stuck to their shirt. But he can’t order new RFID ID badges, because those are printed by our IT department, and they use whatever name is in the system. He can’t change their windows username, or their work email address. To put things into perspective, our department is over 25% trans or nonbinary. That’s over 5x higher than any other department…
And what are those trans employees going to do? Go to HR to report it? As cops are fond of saying: “We have investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing.”
Respect them for who they are, and listen to them if they tell you you're fucking it up, just like you would with anyone else. It's almost as if trans people are just people. ;)
I'm trans. To me the most important thing about jokes in the workplace is when a cis person says something that I can twist into being a deadpan trans joke (of varying riskiness depending on the group). Either the cis person will softlock while trying to determine the ethics of laughing or they'll go for it and potentially apologize. It's always a win in my book though
Treat them like anyone else by default and make accommodations if you need to and it's reasonable.
You're asking with good intentions, but the best answer for any group will always be that. Shit, not even by groups. On a human by human basis just do that, there's a crazy amount of human variation and it's not always obvious.
First of all, good for you for asking the question. I think many people are afraid to ask these things even if they want to be respectful and inclusive for fear of coming off as backward or ignorant, but I think asking questions in good faith shows that we're willing to listen and learn.
But most importantly, just treat them with the same respect you'd treat anyone else! Gender identity isn't really that big of a deal, and after you get to know some trans folks you'll come to that realization quickly that they're just regular people!
This is not a comprehensive list, but you should probably avoid talking about your sex life.
good advice for any workplace
But I'm a hooker
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