I've been waiting until after Christmas day to make this post, but some of our communities recently have had a lot of noise and upset over someone that uses neopronouns that most people are unfamiliar with.
So I want to make this clear. A persons pronouns are to be respected. This is true when the user is using neopronouns that you're unfamiliar with. It's true even if you think someone is trolling. Pronouns are not rewards for good behaviour. They aren't only to be respected when you like the person you're interacting with, or if their pronouns "make sense" to you. Trolls, spammers, twitter users, it doesn't matter who they are, your options are to respect their pronouns, or to not engage with them.
I really want to re-iterate the importance of this. Gender diverse folk are undermined, invalidated and questioned at every step of our lives. As a community, we need to be working to undo that, not creating more of it, and that means there is no space for treating pronouns (including neopronouns) as a reward for good behaviour.
This isn't a free reign for trolls and spammers. The rules still apply. Trolling, spamming, etc will continue to be dealt with, but it's not an excuse to act as if respecting someones pronouns is optional.
well see i belive in my brain (biological) that im kitty so therefore im still valid in ur terms :3
(also gender can be independant from anything biological meows)
I think the binary form of gender is a social construct, but the entire spectrum of gender identity has a biological basis because you can change aspects of people’s gender by affecting them on a physiological basis, like with hormones etc. Identity expression isn’t always related to gender or biology, I think, and it doesn’t have to be.
Oh, to be clear, just because you believe in something doesn’t mean it has the same biological implications as gender identity. I hope I am not being rude or anything :3
And yes, you’re a good kitty, Max head pat.