Nine Entertainment has issued staff with a step-by-step guide on how to avoid misgendering people and use inclusive language whenever possible, for instance when they open a meeting.
Employees at the media company, which includes the publishing arm comprising The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review, were last week given a guide on using inclusive language in their conversations, which advised, “you cannot tell what pronouns people use by looking at them”.
The importance of using pronouns and neopronouns was explained to Nine staff in email correspondence. Neopronouns are pronouns that can be used to replace he, she or they when referring to a person.
Examples include xe/xem (pronounced zee), explained as “a popular gender neutral pronoun commonly used by non-binary or trans people” and ey/em (pronounced aye/eh), “a common gender-neutral pronoun often used by non-binary people”.
“If you make a mistake, apologise promptly and move on,” the guide says.
“Don’t dwell on it and don’t give up – keep trying to get it right. Repeated mistakes indicate a lack of respect and can be very distressing.
“If it continues or is deliberate, it could constitute bullying or discrimination which is unlawful.”
Source: Nine Entertainment guides staff on gender and inclusive language | The Australian