It’s Pride Month and I want to share a recent new practice of mine that is one small step on my road to being a strong ally of LGBTQ+ people. Recently I added my preferred pronouns (he/his/him) to both my work email signature and my profile on LinkedIn. I did so for three reasons.

First, I understand that many people prefer pronouns that might not be readily apparent to others, and I want to be part of a movement that makes identifying your preferred pronouns a common act. Just like I tell people I like being referred to as “Bill”—not “William” or “Billy” or for sure not “Willy”—we should be able to let others know the pronoun we choose for ourselves.

Second, I want people to know my preferences and hopefully to step back and say to themselves, “That is what I assumed but maybe I shouldn’t assume that about Bill or about anyone else.” It’s a moment to remember that each person is different. Let’s make fewer assumptions about others.

Finally, I want to be more accessible to more people. I care deeply about helping to make our world more inclusive to more people. I have privilege to take this easy step at no cost to me. I want those who have to take this step of identifying their pronouns to the world in order to show up as their true selves to see one more ally, one more voice having their back.

Please consider adding your preferred pronouns to your public identity. Let’s make it easier for more people to be who they are, publicly.

This post has been contributed by a third party. The opinions, facts and any media content are presented solely by the author, and JewishBoston assumes no responsibility for them. Want to add your voice to the conversation? Publish your own post here. MORE