In recent years, it’s become fairly common for people to use pronouns in email or over social media, identifying how they’d like people to refer to them.
While the practice helps prevent assumption-based communications, especially for people with gender neutral names, it also helps people affirm individuals who are transgender and non-binary.
For one Lewis County commissioner, a veterinarian with a gender-neutral name, the practice is “utilitarian.” However, when the topic was raised in a discussion about the creation of a new email signature policy for county employees and officials, Commissioner Sean Swope balked at pronouns being allowed alongside names and county titles.
It’s not the first time Swope has used his platform to make critical statements about transgender-affirming language, symbols and events. Two years ago, the county officially recognized June as Pride Month for the first time, with Swope abstaining from voting. Within the week prior, he received backlash after saying, during a public meeting, “in our society today … if I’m a man I can identify as a woman. Or I can identify as a goat. Or something else.”
On Monday, after going back and forth about whether names should be typed in Helvetica or a serif font, Pollock asked if pronouns would appear on the last line of email signatures.
Swope replied, “No. I would say that, in the same sense that we’re not going to put someone’s race, vaccination status, age — that’s not county business. That would not be a part of the signature policy.”
He said in a follow-up interview that the policy was brought up in the first place because the commissioners wanted uniformity, instead of having emojis, quotes and sports team logos when performing county business.
Pollock responded saying most people prefer to know the gender of the person they’re communicating with and reminded her seatmates the name “Lindsey” is gender-neutral.
Commissioner Scott Brummer asked her, “Couldn’t you just use Mr. or Mrs.?”
Pollock let out a chuckle and reminded him, “My honorific is doctor.”
Barbara Russell, civil deputy prosecuting attorney for the county, advised the board of commissioners state law protects against discrimination toward trans people and requiring the omission of pronouns could be seen as discriminatory.
“(Not allowing pronouns in email signatures) could be seen as preventing … something that really doesn’t hurt anyone,” Russell said. “I would recommend being silent on the topic, rather than not allowing it.”
Then, Swope again equated pronoun usage to listing someone’s race, saying, “That would be a protected class, too, right?”
Russell responded it is not common practice to place race on a signature block, while pronouns are now fairly commonly used.
“Common practice as in two years ago? Five years ago? Ten years ago? So what’s to say that next year we don’t have common practice to add race?” Swope said.
Russell simply said, “That’s my legal opinion.”
That didn’t stop Swope’s argument. He continued, “The new trend is that people can identify as a different age. So why don’t we do that, too?”
Meja Handlen, director of Lewis County Public Health & Social Services, told the commissioners she and her staff have used pronouns in their email signatures for at least the last four years, and that they serve multiple purposes. Firstly, it shows acknowledgement and respect, she said, and it allows people to know who they are communicating with while preventing confusing interactions where people are mistakenly called Mr., Mrs., she or he when someone’s name doesn’t make it clear who they are.
With the name Meja, she said, people often don’t know the gender of the person they’re speaking with over email. She thanked the board for bringing up the topic. Brummer said he’d like to have more departments and staff members weigh in on the matter in an upcoming discussion.
Brummer added he doesn’t think it’s necessary to be “picky.”
Asked what he’d say to someone who felt banning pronouns in email signatures was anti-trans, Swope said, “It’s not,” adding the uniform alternative — having everyone use pronouns in signatures — would be “divisive at best.”
As for the utility, Swope said he has two close friends named Sean who are women, and said it would not bother him to be mistaken for a woman over email.
Less than two weeks ago, Swope, who represents the Centralia area, made a Facebook post denouncing Centralia College’s Queer Prom 2023 event, which was held last Saturday. Specifically, he alleged that minors would be permitted to attend.
When asked to address concerns of him being anti-transgender, Swope said he has friends in the LGBTQ+ community, who he called “awesome.” His concern, he said, was that minors should not be allowed to undergo what he called “irreversible damage” through hormone or surgical gender transitions, and he felt having minors at a drag show was inappropriate.
His post mentioned the same thing, noting the college is a tax-funded institution. He added he would never speak out against a private business that chose to have these events.
Robert Cox, vice president of student services, clarified the event is only open to Centralia College students over the age of 16, members of the public over the age of 18 or members of the public 16 and over with signed permission slips from a parent or guardian.
“All Centralia College students who are between 16-18 (Running Start Students) are not required to complete a waiver since they went through orientation with their guardians where they were told their students would have access to all college services and programs, including events such as these,” Cox stated in an email. “No one younger than 16 will be admitted.”
Another one of Swope’s worries was that the college is taxpayer funded.
Cox added this was not the first event at Centralia College to draw political ire, saying “Other student events at the college that have garnered similar attention include political and religious speakers, movies and events. All such events were developed and delivered by the student leaders with student fee funding. We encourage students with all viewpoints to get involved in student life by joining a club that is aligned with their beliefs, or starting a new club if none exist.”
Cox stated the Gender and Sexuality Alliance Club at the college has operated for over a decade, and is just one of the diverse opportunities for student engagement at Centralia College to match the diverse spread of the student body.
In a Facebook post on the issue, where Swope claimed “I’ve had several people call to ask if Lewis County is sponsoring this event. No we are not.”
The county commission was asked in the following week by local activist Kyle Wheeler, founder of an LGBTQ+ nonprofit, if Swope was speaking on behalf of the whole board of commissioners when using the term “we.” It’s unclear whether the commissioner replied.
The college’s administration, he said, allows student leadership to plan events as they please. The Queer Prom is not a new event, but had been canceled due to COVID-19 in the past.
“Centralia College welcomes all individuals and strives to provide a safe space for everyone,” Cox wrote. “Not every activity appeals to everyone and students have the freedom to attend or not attend any activity they choose.”
