At the risk of offending transgender people, Oxford University is urging its students to use gender-neutral pronouns, such as ‘ze.’
A student union’s leaflet being distributed around campus advises against the use of terms which imply that there are only two genders, according to the Times.
“The issue isn’t about being PC. It’s about respecting people’s right to define themselves as neither male nor female,” explained equal rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
According to Oxford University’s behavior code, repeated use of a gender-loaded or wrong pronoun to define a transgender individual is considered an offense, and it defines behavior which “may amount to harassment” as “deliberately using the wrong name or pronoun in relation to a transgender person, or persistently referring to their gender identity history.”
The gender-bending movement also has support at the University of Cambridge, where Sophie Buck, the students’ union welfare officer, pledged that it would help people who do not identify either as male or female in university life.
Nationwide, a publication, entitled Can I Tell You about Gender Diversity? is set to be distributed to 120 selected schools in Britain by Educate and Celebrate, a government-funded organization, advising children to stop using the terms ‘boy’ or ‘girl.’
The book is a fictional account of a 12-year-old transitioning from male to female, and according to publishers, it is the first book of its kind to explain sexual transitioning from a medical perspective for children aged seven and above.
In the guidebook, readers are encouraged to use the term ‘cisgender’ for children who identify with the gender they were born, and ‘genderqueer’ and ‘panromantic’ for those attracted to others of all sexual identities.