Tag: pronouns

Texas Newspaper Virally Claims Ted Cruz Wanted To ‘Limit’ Preferred Pronouns. His Bill Doesn’t Do That.

A headline published Thursday in the San Antonio Express-News claimed that Sen. Ted Cruz (R–Texas) had introduced a bill that would “limit using preferred names, pronouns,” noting that the senator himself uses a preferred nickname, not his legal name. The outlet tweeted a link to the article repeating the same claim, and it quickly racked up over 6 million views on X, formerly Twitter, by Friday afternoon.

“We already knew that Republicans were synonymous with hypocrisy, but this is so typical of them. How is it no one ever calls them out on it?” read one reply.

“I don’t see how this is remotely constitutional,” another commenter added.

But the bill Cruz introduced doesn’t limit individuals’ ability to respect preferred names or pronouns for transgender people. Instead, it would prohibit the government from enacting any rule forcing its employees to use preferred pronouns or names. Instead of compelling speech, the bill prevents the government from trying to compel speech from their employees.

While the article headline was eventually updated to accurately reflect the bill’s content, the original viral post remains online at time of publication.

The “Safeguarding Honest Speech Act,” introduced by Cruz and Rep. Andy Ogles (R–Tenn.) in November, states that “No Federal funds may be used for the purpose of implementing, administering, or enforcing any rule…requiring an employee or contractor of any Federal agency or Department to use—(1) another person’s preferred pronouns if they are incompatible with such person’s sex; or (2) a name other than a person’s legal name when referring to such person.”

And the bill would likely enforce already existing First Amendment protections.

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Michigan residents could be charged with a felony, face up to five years in prison and get a $10,000 fine for using the wrong pronouns under ‘unconstitutional’ new bill

Michigan‘s House of Representatives has passed a hate speech bill, known as HB 4474, which criminalizes causing someone to feel threatened by words, including the misusing of their pronouns, with the possibility of a hefty fine or even jail time.

The bill introduces hate crime penalties for causing someone to ‘feel terrorized, frightened, or threatened,’ with ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity or expression’ included as protected classes. 

Offenders could face up to five years in prison for such a felony offense or a $10,000 fine.

It is part of a continues effort by Democrats in the state to advance a pro-LGBTQ+ agenda in their first months in power. 

The proposed legislation aims to replace the existing Ethnic Intimidation Act and extends protection against intimidation.

Critics argue that the bill poses a threat to First Amendment rights and lacks clarity in defining ‘harassment’, leaving it open to subjective interpretation. 

The bill reads as follows: ‘Intimidate’ means a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another individual that would cause a reasonable individual to feel terrorized, frightened, or threatened, and that actually causes the victim to feel terrorized, frightened, or threatened.’

If passed, penalties would be based on how the supposed victim and court ‘feel’ about a particular matter. 

What constitutes as being deemed ‘intimidation and harassment’ would be up to the interpretation of the listener and a local prosecutor.

Critics argue that the legislation could infringe on free speech rights and undermine the principles of due process. 

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NIH Guide Warns Against Describing Pronouns as ‘Chosen,’ Pushes Slew of 40 Different Options

An office within the National Institutes of Health published a guideline that outlines how professionals should use gendered pronouns to “affirm gender identity” for themselves and colleagues, warning that intentionally using the wrong pronouns is “equivalent to harassment.”

Fox News Digital reviewed the NIH Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office’s “Gender Pronouns & Their Use in Workplace Communications” guide, which provides more than 40 different pronoun examples, while also providing examples on how to avoid making pronoun “mistakes” in the workplace.

For professionals to “facilitate inclusive, affirming and welcoming” workplaces, the gender pronouns guide hashes out a series of different mistakes to avoid while using pronouns, including not describing pronouns as “preferred” or “chosen” as that allegedly implies “that gender identity is a preference or a choice, when it is neither.”

“Performative allyship,” when people only superficially show they are devoted to a cause, is also frowned upon, with the guide pointing to a hypothetical situation where an employer mandates all employees publicly share their pronouns.

Some employees, however, might not want to disclose their pronouns as they are not “ready to ‘come out’ and disclose their gender identity,” according to the guide, which was crafted in part by the NIH’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

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School district official declares that using the wrong pronoun is an ‘act of psychological violence’ that ‘needs to be dealt with accordingly’

A Rhode Island elected school board official involved in promoting a diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda in the district, recently came under fire for claiming that intentionally “misgendering” someone is an “act of violence” that “needs to be dealt with accordingly.”

Jennifer Lima, elected member of the North Kingstown School Committee, shared a social media post from an activist group on November 12 that read, “Purposefully misgendering students is an act of violence. Respond accordingly.”

Lima added to the shared post, “I recognize that some may find the use of the word violence in this post extreme.”

“Any act of violence in our schools which creates an unsafe environment (physically or emotionally by or for any member of the school community) needs to be dealt with accordingly,” Lima continued.

Lima was consequently slammed online by critics who interpreted her post as advocating a violent response to using incorrect pronouns.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Lima explained, “I also believe that purposely misgendering someone is an act of psychological violence when done deliberately and consistently and should be responded to accordingly.”

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Harvard Tells Students: ‘Using Wrong Pronouns’ Constitutes ‘Abuse’

Welcome to Harvard!

“Fatphobia” and “cisheterosexism” perpetuate “violence.” “Using the wrong pronouns” constitutes “abuse.” And “any words used to lower a person’s self-worth” are “Verbal Abuse.” Those are just a handful of the things the school told all undergraduate students in a mandatory Title IX training session, according to materials reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

The online training, which all undergraduates were required to complete in order to enroll in courses, includes a “Power and Control Wheel” to help students identify “harmful” conduct. Outside the wheel are attitudes that “contribute to an environment that perpetuates violence,” a voiceover from the training states, including “sizeism and fatphobia,” “cisheterosexism,” “racism,” “transphobia,” “ageism,” and “ableism.”

Inside the wheel are behaviors that the school says constitute “abuse” and could violate its Title IX policies. “We all have an essential role to play in creating a community that cultivates gender equity and inclusion,” Harvard College dean Rakesh Khurana told students in a video introducing the training. “Completing this course is a critical step in establishing a shared understanding of the values here at Harvard College.”

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Irish Teacher Gets Jail Time After Refusing to Use a Transgender Student’s Preferred Pronouns

A teacher in the Republic of Ireland has been suspended from teaching and later jailed on contempt charges after he refused to address a transgender student by their preferred pronouns.

Enoch Burke was arrested on Monday for violating a court order that barred him from teaching at Wilson’s Hospital School in Westmeath, the news site RTE.ie reported. In addition to being barred from teaching, Burke is not allowed to set foot on the property, per the court order.

Judge Michael Quinn later found Burke guilty of violating the High Court’s mandate. He was then sent to Mountjoy Prison, where he will remain until either he purges his contempt, or the court gives further orders.

The teacher stood by his refusal even when faced with jail time, telling the judge that “it is insanity” that he would be arrested and taken to prison for refusing to violate his Christian beliefs. “I love my school, with its motto Res Non Verba, ‘Actions not words,’ but I am here today because I said I would not call a boy a girl,” Burke told the court.

The saga began when Burke, who teaches politics and German at the school in Multyfarnham, County Westmeath, refused to address a transgender pupil as “they” instead of “he.” He was soon placed on administrative leave by school officials pending the outcome of an investigation and disciplinary process.

Burke refused to stay away from campus, however. He continued to refuse despite an injunction that barred him from teaching or even setting foot on Wilson’s campus.

On Friday, the judge issued an order to arrest Burke after he was found sitting in an empty classroom at the school. He was arrested at the school on Monday and taken directly to court, where he told the judge that he would not comply with the injunction.

“I am a teacher and I don’t want to go to prison,” Burke told the court. “I want to be in my classroom today, that’s where I was this morning when I was arrested.”

“Transgenderism is against my Christian belief. It is contrary to the scriptures, contrary to the ethos of the Church of Ireland and of my school,” he added.

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BBC staff told there are more than 150 genders

The BBC hired “trans and nonbinary inclusion” consultants to tell its staff that there are more than 150 genders and instruct them to police each other’s use of gender pronouns, the Telegraph reported on Saturday. 

According to the report, the BBC emailed its radio producers and program editors urging them to attend several training sessions last year organized by Global Butterflies, a group that describes itself on LinkedIn as offering “Trans & Non-binary Corporate Inclusion Training and Consultation.”

During the sessions, staff were reportedly told that “people can self-identify themselves in over 150 ways, and increasing!” They were shown examples of newly-invented gender pronouns such as “xe, xem, xyrs,” and told to include their own pronouns in their email signatures to be more “inclusive and welcoming” and to further their “trans brand.”

Those opting to go by traditional “he/she” pronouns were told that these descriptors “can create discomfort, stress and anxiety” for trans and non-binary colleagues, and that “using correct pronouns and names reduces depression and suicide risks.”

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In a crisis-ridden era, the US Navy focuses on…pronouns

Winston Churchill memorably described British Navy traditions as “rum, sodomy, and the lash.”  In America, the lash, thankfully, is gone, and rum is for off-duty hours, but sodomy (that is, homosexuality) has moved front and center.  The latest example is the childish video the Navy is having its members watch so they can learn how pronouns work, including avoiding “misgendering” fellow members of the Navy.

Our military exists to defend America against foreign enemies, whether the battle is fought overseas or, God forbid, ends on American soil.  Currently, we have a lot of enemies: Biden is busy trying to get us into a hot war with Putin, China is expanding its military and geographic reach, Iran continues its efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, and North Korea already has a nuclear bomb.

And while those threats face America, our Navy is focused like a laser on pronouns.  This focus doesn’t just represent a complete collapse in the military’s mission.  It also represents a serious threat to the military’s operational efficiency.

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Fairfax County Schools May Suspend Students Who ‘Misgender’ Classmates

Fairfax County Public Schools will overhaul its rulebook with a name and pronoun policy that punishes students who “deadname” or “misgender” those claiming to be trans and recommends up to a 5-day suspension from school as punishment.

The policy change in deep-blue Fairfax County comes as the district’s school board reviews its “Students’ Rights and Responsibilities” handbook, laying out disciplinary policies and, apparently, various left-wing social controls. In a new provision well-hidden inside the handbook, the district’s proposed pronoun and name policy compares using a student’s given name or biological pronouns to “using slurs” and committing a “malicious” act, before addressing how offenders will be punished.

According to the handbook, “using slurs based upon the actual or perceived gender identity (which includes, but is not limited to, malicious deadnaming or malicious misgendering),” will now be considered a level four offense, punishable by suspension and even a referral to the district’s Superintendent.

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