Values in Practice: A Guide to Gender Pronouns
Seneca Family of Agencies is committed to celebrating and honoring the diversity of its employees and clients. Part of this commitment includes proactively learning about and adopting practices that create an environment where all employees are able to thrive. Seneca includes gender pronouns in our agency’s email signatures as a small, but important step to signify respect for all gender identities. As language is a powerful tool, using the correct pronouns for an individual makes one feel valued, included, safe and respected. Gender expression, identity and names do not dictate one’s pronouns. By adding our pronouns to our email signatures, we are stating that we are a gender affirming organization that encourages everyone to be their authentic selves.
An Array of Pronouns
| They | Them | Their | Theirs | Themself | Pronounced as it looks |
| She | Her | Her | Hers | Herself | Pronounced as it looks |
| Ze | Hir | Hir | Hirs | Hirself | Pronounced: zee, here, hereself |
| He | Him | His | His | Himself | Pronounced as it looks |
| Ze | Zim | Zir | Zirs | Zirself | Pronounced: zee, zim, zere, zereself |
| Mitch | Mitch | Mitch | Mitch's | Mitch | Just my name, please and thanks! |
*This is not an exhaustive list of all pronouns. If you ask for someone’s pronoun and you have not heard it previously, it is not insulting to ask for the spelling and different conjugations of said pronoun. It is best to let the person know you are asking for the purpose of making sure their pronouns are respected.*
Resources & Articles:
- The ACLU
- Everyday Feminism
- Trans Student Educational Resources
- LGBT Resource Center-University of Wisconsin
- Minus18 Video
Contacts: Kim_Wayne@senecacenter.org
