Many years ago, I sat in a meeting where we composed a questionnaire to send to our organization. We coordinated these questions with our human resources department and one question they suggested adding was, “What are your preferred pronouns?” Although I certainly worked in the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) space in the company, this practice was unfamiliar to me. Once I understood that it implied gender identity, I pushed back on the question. In principle, I had no problems with transgender workmates but believed this was a bit more ‘in your face’ than we wanted to be.
One teammate pushed back: they disproportionately target this community. Who, if not us, would champion this cause? To advocate for a community which you understand and with which you identify comes easily. To empathize and advocate for a community which you don’t understand nor with which you identify becomes considerably tougher. Ultimately, they were right, of course, even if it took time for me to realize it.