The Power of Pronouns Campaign FAQs

What is the Power of Pronouns Campaign?

The Power of Pronouns Campaign is a social awareness movement that seeks to uphold the dignity of all people through respectful pronoun use. It incorporates three LGBT flag designs with slogans that promote pronoun respect. These flags are recognizable symbols of LGBT Pride and already carry meaning among people. But the flags, and the pronouns that people use for themselves, go beyond mere symbolism; they represent people’s identities.

Why should we care about pronouns?

We should all care about pronoun respect, because LGBT rights are human rights. When the most marginalized among us are respected, then our whole society is elevated in dignity. When we work to learn about the struggles of marginalized groups—when we work together toward a deeper understanding of one another’s perspectives—then our whole society evolves.

Every person deserves to feel that they matter and that they have a right to exist as their true self. In “The Song of Singular they,” Dennis Baron writes, “people are starting to think of pronouns not as a preference but as the essence of who they are.” We all deserve to be seen for who we are. It’s about basic human dignity.

To whom should the Power of Pronouns Campaign be directed (the target audience)?

Essentially, we are all responsible for respecting pronouns, as we are all responsible for respecting one another. But the Power of Pronouns Campaign was designed with certain demographic groups in mind.

The fact that the Power of Pronouns Campaign employs three different LGBT flag designs allows people to choose the symbol with which they most closely identify.

• The Rainbow Pride flag—this design may have the broadest appeal for two reasons. First, the Rainbow Pride flag stands as an umbrella symbol for the entire LGBT Pride movement. People all along the LGBT spectrum can identify with this flag. Second, the Rainbow Pride flag is easily identifiable among those outside the LGBT community—those who may not know the significance of the other two flags.
• The Transgender Pride flag—this design is an essential part of the Power of Pronouns Campaign because transgender and non-gender conforming people’s pronouns are the most abused. As transgender and non-gender conforming people realize their true identities, their new pronouns become a crucial part of their transition.
• The Straight Ally flag—this design is geared toward straight people who wish to support the LGBT community. But being an ally takes more than being a supporter; being an ally requires action. The Power of Pronouns Campaign is a simple-but-significant call to action for straight allies. Using a person’s adopted pronouns may take some initial effort, but the effect of this small action is life altering.

Additionally, the use of all lower-case letters and no punctuation throughout the Power of Pronouns Campaign appeals to those who are comfortable with the casual, informal style of social media writing. This demographic likely comprises teens and young adults.

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What is the meaning of “they + she + he = we?”

It’s simply a statement of inclusion and unity. They represents the singular they, the most widely used gender-neutral pronoun group (they/them/their) but certainly not the only gender-neutral pronoun group. Those who identify as neither male nor female may ask to be referenced as they. She and he represent the female and male pronoun groups, respectively, and refer to the gender with which a person identifies regardless of biological gender. The statement “they + she + he = we” means that when we all come together in compassion and understanding, we form an inclusive, unified group with a shared value of mutual respect.

How can our organization implement the Power of Pronouns Campaign?

As a sanctioned organization representative, you may reproduce the unaltered Power of Pronouns images for any outreach or merchandising purposes as long as you do so with respect for all people. Use of the unaltered Power of Pronouns images may include, but is not limited to, the production of flags, posters, stickers, banners, buttons, balloons, pens, pencils, key chains, cups, mugs, water bottles, tote bags, T-shirts and other apparel, folders, binders, frisbees, social media posts, news stories, flyers, brochures, and pamphlets.