You thought the new words like manspreading or wine o'clock were crazy, how about xe, xym, xyr ?

Gender-neutral terms encouraged at University of Tennessee, criticized by legislators
News Sentinel staff
8:27 PM, Aug 28, 2015
6:06 PM, Aug 30, 2015

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Staff and students in the University of Tennessee Office for Diversity and Inclusion want people to think beyond the “he/she” pronouns and are encouraging use of gender-neutral pronouns such as “xe,” “xym” and “xyr.”

Their suggestion hasn’t quite caught on — and some state legislators aren’t impressed.

Not everyone in society identifies on a strict male-or-female basis, according to diversity office staff, so they are asking people to be aware some may identify themselves with a name and gender that’s not strictly male or female. It is not UT’s policy.

“We should not assume someone’s gender by their appearance, nor by what is listed on a roster or in student information systems,” Donna Braquet, director of UT’s Pride Center, wrote in a newsletter on Tuesday. “Transgender people and people who do not identify within the gender binary may use a different name than their legal name and pronouns of their gender identity, rather than the pronouns of the sex they were assigned at birth.”

She suggested instructors learn students’ chosen names and chosen pronouns during the first few weeks of classes.

“We are familiar with the singular pronouns she, her, hers and he, him, his, but those are not the only singular pronouns. In fact, there are dozens of gender-neutral pronouns,” Braquet wrote.

State Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, said he thought the suggestion was a joke.

“And then I found out it was true, at which point I thought, ‘Are we really paying somebody to come up with this stuff?’ ” he said.

Dunn, a graduate of UT, said he would rather see public money spent on other academic areas such as math or technology. The Pride Center is fiscally supported by the state school.

“I just think that when people pay their taxes, they would rather have it go to a university so that people can learn something,” Dunn said Friday. “Not be brainwashed into some gobbledygook.”

State Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, posted on Facebook: “It seems to me the biggest lack of diversity we have at the University of Tennessee is people of common sense. Apparently, this is what happens when the decision is made that no one from Tennessee is smart enough to run our university.”

In a phone interview with the News Sentinel, Niceley said, “Maybe we ought to go back to ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ for everybody and that’ll take care of it.”

State Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, wrote on Facebook: “First it was eliminating the Lady Vols. Now this? I doubt if parents spending over $15,000 a year expect this kind of nonsense education from the University of Tennessee. My advice would be find something better and more productive to do.”

Pride Center staff, in a brief news conference on campus Friday, said it is important to know and understand minorities, including those who are gender-neutral.

Among the approximately two-dozen students gathered Friday was student Mandy Pitts, who introduced ‘xymself” this way: “Hi. I’m Mandy. Xe.”

Pitts uses the pronouns “xe,” “xym,” and “xyr” (pronounced like “zee,” “zim,” and “zeer.”). Some gender-neutral people also use variants of “they” or “them.”

Pitts wore a button-festooned hat and a bright pink shirt with matching stockings and a skirt while listening to Rickey Hall, UT’s vice chancellor for diversity, speak about gender-neutrality in a courtyard near the campus Pride Center.

“It’s just to be respectful,” Hall said.

The purpose of his office is to make sure UT faculty, staff and students accommodate all types of people.

Learning about and supporting minorities, such as the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and gender-neutral individuals the Pride Center serves, is a part of university education, Hall said.

“I don’t understand what the big deal is,” Hall said. “We’re trying to make people feel included. We are a campus that is committed to diversity and inclusion.”

Hall said UT’s mission is to prepare students for a diverse world.

“And we want them to be leaders. And to be leaders, they’re going to have to work across differences, all kinds of differences,” Hall said, adding UT Knoxville is not the first to discuss gender-neutral terms.

Universities in Michigan, Maryland and North Carolina have had campaigns on gender-neutral terms, he said. The University of Vermont has gender-neutral terms on its forms.