Raising awareness of gender identity

Brighton and Hove City Council and public-sector partners have launched #MyPronounsAre which involves people wearing badges indicating their correct gender pronoun such as ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’.

The city-wide campaign will mark Trans Day of Visibility on 31 March. The badges are being sent out to all organisations and will be available to members of the public across the city during the week starting 26 March. The badges will be launched at the university when staff and students return from the Easter holiday.

Some badges will say “please use my name” and others will be left blank for users to fill in themselves.

The campaign has been created with support and input from local LGBT+ community groups including the Clare Project and Trans Alliance, the council's LGBT Workers Forum, local NHS trusts, the University of Brighton and Sussex Police.

In addition, the university and Student’s Union are dedicating two weeks of awareness messages to students and staff towards the end of April. This will include information on support and resources for trans and non-binary staff and students at the university, as well as informal drop-in sessions open to all, for people to find out more.

The Brighton and Sussex Medical School, jointly run by Brighton and Sussex universities, and public sector organisations including fire brigades are joining the campaign.

Tessa Marshall, the University of Brighton’s Equalities Engagement Officer, said: “The university is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion for all, including trans and non-binary people.

“Using someone’s correct pronouns is integral to creating an inclusive environment, where all our staff, students and visitors are safe and comfortable to be themselves. This campaign is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of gender identity and for people to let others know their correct pronouns.

“The badges will be voluntary to wear and no-one will be expected to wear them if they do not want to, but we hope as many staff and students will join in and celebrate diversity.”

For more information, please contact the Equality & Diversity Team on equality@brighton.ac.uk.