Georgetown Law School’s Student Bar Association asked students to designate their preferred pronouns on Zoom, LinkedIn, and in their email signatures Thursday morning.
An email obtained by the Washington Free Beacon asks law students to stand "in solidarity and support" of their transgender and "nonbinary" peers by putting their pronouns in usernames for online meeting platforms and social media sites.
The email to students at one of the nation’s top-ranked law schools also defined pronouns and explained pronoun usage as a part of speech.
Displaying pronouns "helps to ensure that everyone, regardless of their gender identity, will be correctly addressed" in class, the email states. Students who identify as their biological sex should also display their preferred pronouns to avoid "isolating" students who go by different pronouns, including "they" and "ze."
"Students may be afraid to out themselves if they do not know their environment is supportive," the email says. "When we all include our pronouns as part of our daily life, it normalizes the action of doing so. This five-minute gesture contributes towards a more welcoming and friendly community for all."
The email includes the Speak Up Pocket Card created by Teaching Tolerance, the educational arm of the leftist nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center. The card provides step-by-step instructions for students to take when calling out "harmful behaviors" like "misgendering."
The Student Bar Association also provided students with an instruction guide on how to add preferred pronouns on social media, Zoom, and other platforms.
Universities in recent years have asked students and faculty to designate their preferred pronouns as a means of being more inclusive to the LGBTQ community. Harvard gave students pronoun stickers to affix to name cards or clothing last spring.
New York University and dozens of other schools give students the option to indicate their preferred pronouns on class rosters. And a student group for women at Georgia State University listed 10 options for pronouns—including the masculine "he/him" as well as "co/cos," "en/ens," and "ze/zir."
Georgetown Law and the Student Bar Association did not respond to the Free Beacon’s request for comment in time for publication.