What The Heck Is A "Pgp" Gsafe (Page 2 of 3) in pdf

Activity 1: Neutralize It!

For this activity, you will need at least two people and some reading material.

This activity can be done either in pairs or in a larger group. Ask students to grab a book they are

reading either for a class or for fun. Novels with a lot of character descriptions and narrative would work

best, as they will have the most subject, object and possessive pronouns. Scan the pages to find a

section with a lot of pronouns, and ask for a volunteer to go first.

One at a time, have students read out loud for thirty seconds, replacing all the gendered pronouns (she,

he, her, him) with gender neutral or gender inclusive pronouns (ze or hir). If the reader accidentally

misses a pronoun, the group will have the opportunity to politely correct him/her/hir. Part of being a

good ally to transgender people is letting folks know when they use an incorrect pronoun or when they

say something that might be offensive to the trans community. The responsibility of encouraging

gender neutral and trans-inclusive language should not rest solely with trans individuals.

Remember: Not everyone is comfortable reading aloud, and folks should be able to opt out of this

activity. Students who don’t want to read out loud could be the timekeepers, or scan other books for

the next section to read.

Activity 2: Telling Hir Story

For this activity, you need at least four people and scrap paper or notebook paper.

Ask the students to partner up with someone that they don’t know very well. After everyone has a

partner (it’s okay if there is a group of three), explain that everyone is going to share their two-minute

life story. Students will go one at a time, and their partners will record the details of their partner’s life

on a piece of paper. It might be helpful to post some guiding questions or keywords on a flipchart or

whiteboard, such as: name, family, hobbies, pets, interests, career plans, dreams, etc.

After two minutes of one person sharing, the two should swap places: The person writing will be the one

talking and vice versa. If there is a group of three, allow an additional two minutes so that each person

has had a turn talking, a turn writing, and a turn just listening.

Bring the large group back together in a circle and ask for a volunteer to go first. Each student will then

take thirty seconds introducing his/her/hir partner to the rest of the group, making sure to only use

gender neutral pronouns. It is the responsibility of the rest of the group (not the person being

introduced) to politely correct the speaker if he/she/ze makes a mistake and uses the wrong pronoun.

Note: This activity can also be done in small groups if you have a large club or not a lot of time.

Possible discussion/reflection questions: How easy or hard was it using only gender neutral pronouns?

What was it like having someone use a gender neutral pronoun to describe you? What do you think it

would be like to have people regularly use the incorrect pronouns to describe you?

Created by the Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools and adapted in part from Part 7 of the GLSEN Jump-Start

Guide “Where’s the ‘T’ in GSA? Making Your Student Club Trans-Inclusive”.

What The Heck Is A "Pgp" Gsafe Page 2