By Michelle Levine

The University of Maryland allows people to change their Zoom names to add personal pronouns after they enter meetings. 

Transgender students and staff say it is not enough.

Members of the LGBTQ community at the University of Maryland said Zoom classes have the potential to help normalize transgender issues, but the school hasn’t taken advantage of the situation. There have also been exacerbated mental health concerns related to the online environment, they said.

Both students and staff brought up the opportunity that comes with online classes and displaying names to include pronouns, something that can’t easily be done with in-person instruction. 

“The importance of all people  — not only trans people — sharing pronouns is to create a more inclusive environment where trans people can also share their pronouns without drawing unwanted negative attention from others,” M Pease, a junior psychology student who uses they/them pronouns, said in an email.  

The current setup allows for users to change names once in a Zoom meeting. Some students add their pronouns after their last name. Program Manager of Bias Incident Support Service Brian Medina, who uses pronouns ze/hirs, changes hirs pronouns at the beginning of every Zoom ze attends, but ze noticed that many others do not. 

Medina has worked at different college campuses over the past 13 years. Of all the institutions where ze has been employed, UMD is the first to have a role like hirs as a paid position. 

“We’re one of the best in the country in terms of having the most resources,” Medina said. Ze said other schools have reached out to UMD for guidance on how to run their own inclusion offices. 

There is always work to be improved upon, Medina said. Ze said taking advantage of being in an online setting to include pronouns is a step towards inclusion.

Medina said that increased exposure to things like pronoun usage and all-gender restrooms is a key factor in creating an inclusive environment. 

Mental health is a common topic that has been brought to Medina’s attention. Students everywhere are experiencing the side effects of Zoom fatigue and being separated from friends. For the transgender and gender-nonconforming community, additional mental health issues are stemming from the increase of cyberbullying. 

If people write slurs in chalk on the sidewalk on campus, it might get noticed, but most people will walk over it without a second thought, Medina said. However, if a slur is posted on Twitter or shared in a class GroupMe, it gets shared repeatedly, “harming more and more people,” ze said. 

Everyone is dealing with the exhaustion that comes from online learning, Medina said.

“It’s that wear and tear on one’s psyche that then when you encounter something offensive and very hurtful, it’s just that much harder to then be able to react in a positive way,” ze said. 

Pease talked about the lack of access to resources for mental health.

“I think that a larger issue that contributes to this is the lack of institutional data collection on trans student experiences,” Pease said. 

The current technology system that only offers binary gender markers erases people who don’t identify as male or female, Pease said. Addressing this technical issue would help bring awareness to mental health issues that trans people are dealing with, they said. 

Adam Klager, a first year graduate student who uses they/them pronouns, said they finally have access to a gender-neutral bathroom during school now that they attend class from home.  

Klager said they often missed large chunks of class as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin – Madison because they would have to go across the street to find an all-gender restroom. Klager said they have checked the bathroom map at UMD as well and noticed that not all buildings have appropriate facilities. 

Discussing issues such as pronouns and bathrooms is important, Klager said, but they also hope to move beyond that. They said they want additional issues such as mental health and misgendering to be brought up in conversations as well. 

Despite the obstacles that may come with being on campus, Klager is hopeful to attend in person soon. 

“Obviously I’m looking forward to being back in person and at the same time it’s gonna present some challenges but for trans people in a way that online school has been a bit better for,” Klager said. 

Featured image: Adam Klager said they wish people talked about more of the challenges transgender people face rather than only pronouns and bathrooms. Photo courtesy Adam Klager.