The Importance of Pronouns
Annalise Johnson-Smith
School Psychologist Tuesday, March 23rd, 2021 : 7:30 - 9:00 pm
You can’t always know what someone’s pronouns are by appearance alone. Asking about and correctly using someone’s pronouns is one of the most basic ways to show your respect for their gender identity. When someone is referred to with the incorrect pronoun, it can make them feel disrespected, invalidated, dismissed, alienated, and/or dysphoric. When we fail to respect someone’s gender identity, it is not only disrespectful and hurtful, but also oppressive.
Join Annalise Johnson-Smith(she/her/hers), School Psychologist, on why pronouns matter and how to create a respectful inclusive community.
Video
Presentation Slides
Bio
Annalise Johnson-Smith lives in Pittsford with her Spouse and two children. She has worked as a School Psychologist for 11 years in a number of public and private schools throughout the westside of Rochester. Part of her role is to support students age 5-21 and includes working with students of many different abilities, backgrounds and identities. Additionally she has consulted and facilitated staff training on this and many other topics.
Online Resources
Intersectionality description - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViDtnfQ9FHc
NYSED 2015 Guidelines - http://www.p12.nysed.gov/dignityact/documents/Transg_GNCGuidanceFINAL.pdf
Lambda Legal Help Desk Toll-Free at 866-542-8336 or go to www.lambdalegal.org/help
Another presentation with good information: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/osh/ContinuumofCare/trainingmaterials/Documents/EQUAL%20ACCESS%20and%20CULTURAL%20COMPETENCY/LGBTQ%20101.pdf
Whats Your Pronoun? Workplace Strategies for Inclusion - From Out and Equal https://outandequal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Pronouns-Guide.pdf
Parenting: Supporting your LGBTQ+ Child (Savvy Ally): https://86e72645-5e7c-4b03-9857-a96bc3948b24.filesusr.com/ugd/00b55c_186f88f2f58342b3b9bc69520431b681.pdf
Creating LGBTQ+ Inclusive Schools (Savvy Ally) https://86e72645-5e7c-4b03-9857-a96bc3948b24.filesusr.com/ugd/00b55c_03d3c9535a9b4531a0ce5518b7222eb6.pdf
Local Resources – Out Alliance – Mocha Center – SavvyAllyAction – Safezone Initiative
Offensive- things to avoid saying https://www.glaad.org/reference/offensive
Link to autism - https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/largest-study-to-date-confirms-overlap-between-autism-and-gender-diversity/
Downloadable PDF resource - Schools In Transition: A Guide for Supporting Transgender Students in K-12 Schools – HRC *excellent resource
Documentary: Katie Couric’s Gender Revolution on National Geographic (2017)
Books
Beyond the Gender Binary – by Alok Vaid-Menon (young adult audience)
This is How it Always Is - by Laurie Frankel (fiction- adult/parents)
It Feels Good to Be Yourself -by Theresa Thom (age 4-8)
The Savvy Ally – by Jeannie Gainsburg