Genderkiller: Harvard College

By Frances Kelly

One of America's most elite colleges made a gender blunder. When announcing the appointment of Vanidy "Van" Bailey as the first permanent director of bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, and queer student life, Harvard Crimson inadvertently committed a faux pas by referring to the director as a "she." Quick learners, they promptly corrected their article to eliminate the gendered pronoun. Yes, Harvard has become a genderkiller.

Harvard Crimson:

An earlier version of this article used the pronoun "she" to refer to Vanidy "Van" Bailey, the newly appointed director of bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, and queer student life. In fact, Bailey prefers not to be referred to by any gendered pronoun.

Considering Bailey's first move is to voice concern over gendered pronouns, no doubt Harvard College is convinced they chose the right person to direct life for the students with same-sex attraction or other-gender attraction. Categorizing students by initials such as BGLTQ is much more respectful than calling them he or she.

You can read the announcement here, and for more entertainment, be sure to check out the comments.

Question: Will calling people by gendered pronouns against their will land you on the list of people guilty of offensive mockery?

© Frances Kelly