Google encouraged attendees at its I/O developers conference to use preferred pronoun stickers, even providing non-binary options such as “They/Them,” and “Ze/Hir.”
“We care about your pronouns,” declared Google on a sign at the conference. “Add a sticker to your badge to share with others which ones you prefer.”
Attendees were able to pick from “He/Him,” “She/Her,” “They/Them,” and “Ze/Hir.”
At Google #io18, stickers to add to your badge to let people know which pronouns you prefer. pic.twitter.com/v1munoQOXT
— Matt Keller (@MattKellerABC7) May 8, 2018
The pronoun stickers were celebrated by some conference attendees.
Yay pronoun stickers! #io18 pic.twitter.com/8HQwF0oStS
— Russell Holly (@russellholly) May 8, 2018
Thanks #googleio2018 for the pronoun stickers at check in. pic.twitter.com/g96jSfpEFu
— Julia Grebenstein (@JGrebenstein) May 8, 2018
Reminder to all my fellow CIS people that this is an easy way to be an ally and have people not question your gender is a privilege. 😘
— Julia Grebenstein (@JGrebenstein) May 8, 2018
Others opted to criticize and mock the stickers.
yes, i hope everyone working at Google on building AI for the US military to target drone strikes is wearing a pronoun sticker https://t.co/jyyxiUkwIw
— Evan Greer (@evan_greer) May 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/dabitch/status/994264868642611200
Google kinda let me down with this whole pronoun sticker thing. I was hoping for the tech conference I know and love, you know, WITHOUT having politics injected into it? Can't we just stick to the topic of the conference and not have to worry about this kind of thing? #io18 pic.twitter.com/6X51s0Ki74
— Xelleld (@XelleldIsWeird) May 8, 2018
According to SFGate, “Pronoun stickers are becoming increasingly common at conferences to foster inclusiveness and reduce instances of misgendering. The American Association of Physics Teachers uses the stickers at its conferences, for example.”
Microsoft Build Live, another technology conference which took place this week, also distributed pronoun stickers.
#MSBuild provided pronoun stickers this year! Well done! @GrapeCityUS pic.twitter.com/1ajSo6Ld4n
— Jody H (@jodygrape) May 9, 2018
If you'd like a sparkly preferred pronoun sticker for your #MSBuild badge, come see us in the Lounge yay! ✨ pic.twitter.com/kDJbv2HZG2
— Allison Krug (@allinison) May 4, 2018
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington, or like his page at Facebook.
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