Understanding Gender Pronouns with Special Guests Heather Pizzuro-Urquhart & Elizabeth Kennedy

Gender Pronouns represent a topic that merits discussion, and I am very excited to have two very special guests join us today to begin increasing awareness of this topic--Heather Pizzuro-Urquhart and Elizabeth Kennedy.

As stated in Wikipedia,

“Preferred gender pronouns or personal gender pronouns (often abbreviated as PGP) refer to the set of pronouns (in English, third-person pronouns) that an individual wants others to use in order to reflect that person's gender identity. In English, when declaring one's chosen pronouns, a person will often state the subject and object pronouns—for example, "he/him", "she/her", or "they/them"—although sometimes, the possessive pronouns are also stated ("she/her/hers", "he/him/his", or "they/them/theirs"). The pronouns chosen may include neopronouns such as "ze" and "zir". PGPs have come into use as a way of promoting equity and inclusion for transgender and genderqueer people. Their use has been identified by social workers, educators, and medical professionals as both a practical and ethical consideration.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preferred_gender_pronoun.

As more trans and non-binary individuals have the courage to live openly, it is critical that we gain an increased understanding of gender pronouns to accommodate societal advances. Yet society is not accepting enough of people who do not identify as a man or a woman. Some progress is occurring, as several states begin to offer a third option on driver’s licenses, birth certificates and other documentation, while popular social media platforms are now expanding options to include updated PGPs. By incorporating an increased awareness and usage of preferred gender pronouns, we will be able to create a more inclusive society over time.

Heather Pizzuro-Urquhart: She/Her: Best friend from high school. Heather is a Learning Consultant at a Child Study Team at a school in NJ and she is an LGBTQ+ Advisor for a club at her school. Heather has been in education since 1999 where she has experience teaching elementary school, middle school, and special education. Pizzuro-Urquhart coached female athletes at the high school level in basketball and softball. She is also a licensed real estate agent in NJ. Heather graduated from Pace University with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction. Heather also has a Post Masters Certificate from Kean University as a Learning Disability Teaching Consultant which is what she currently does for her career.

Elizabeth Kennedy: She/They Pronouns: Elizabeth is my goddaughter and she currently attends Florida State University. She is pursing two bachelor degrees in political science and international affairs. Lizzie is very passionate about being an Advocate for Human Rights.

For part of our research into this area regarding preparation for this show, I found “A Guide to Gender Identity Terms” written by Laura Wamsley very helpful. This article can be accessed by clicking on this link:
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/02/996319297/gender-identity-pronouns-expression-guide-lgbtq (June 2, 2021).

I hope you enjoy our candid discussion into this topic! By discussing this topic, together we can begin to expand minds, change paradigms, and create a more inclusive, equitable and just society for all.

Other Resources to Consider:
GLAAD
https://www.glaad.org/resourcelist

The Trevor Project
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

The National Suicide Prevention Hotline:
(800) 273-8255