New Gender Neutral Title for RE

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Barbara Krause
Barbara Krause ✭
Tenth Anniversary Facilitator 1 Name Dropper Photogenic
in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussion
Mx.

A new honorific gender neutral title is being established for constituents who "identify as bigender (having two genders), agender (having no gender), gender fluid (experiencing gender in different ways at different times) or perhaps just because they don’t feel like their gender is a defining part of who they are".



http://time.com/4106718/what-mx-means/?xid=emailshare



Regards,

Barb Krause

Database Manager

Hephzibah Children's Association
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Comments

  • Karen Stuhlfeier
    Karen Stuhlfeier ✭
    Tenth Anniversary Facilitator 3 Name Dropper Photogenic
    What's wrong with that?
  • Alan French
    Alan French ✭
    Tenth Anniversary Facilitator 3 Name Dropper Photogenic
    I think perhaps Barb is giving people the heads-up so they can add it to their Titles table?



    I imagine some people might assume it's a misspelling of Ms and get rid of it during data cleansing - I know that would probably be my instinct if I hadn't been aware that Mx was a title in its own right.
  • Elizabeth Johnson
    Elizabeth Johnson ✭✭✭✭✭
    Ancient Membership Facilitator 4 Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thanks Barbara,



    On the topic - if you would like the gender field (which we have renamed "Sex" to be more accurate until more options are available) to be able to handle your constituent's preference please vote for this on the discovery pages.



    Have a lovely day,

    Elizabeth

     
  • Alan French
    Alan French ✭
    Tenth Anniversary Facilitator 3 Name Dropper Photogenic

    Elizabeth Johnson:



    On the topic - if you would like the gender field (which we have renamed "Sex" to be more accurate until more options are available) to be able to handle your constituent's preference please vote for this on the discovery pages.

    At the last user group I attended, I could have sworn that one of the Blackbaud staff mentioned that this was in the works for a future version. There's no mention of it being in development on the discovery page though.

  • Daniel Noga 2
    Daniel Noga 2 ✭
    Tenth Anniversary Facilitator 2 Photogenic


    Thank you for sharing this! This is good to know. If we see any donations or correspondence using this honorific, we'll know what we're looking at.
  • Barbara Krause
    Barbara Krause ✭
    Tenth Anniversary Facilitator 1 Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thanks you all of your great responses!  Yes, this post was added to the community just so you are aware of a new gender neutral title that might need to be added to RE in the future.  



    Have a great day! 
  • Bill Connors
    Bill Connors ✭
    Ancient Membership Facilitator 2 Name Dropper Photogenic
    I have a picture of a slide from a bbcon presentation last month where senior RE product management indicate that "Customer Gender Values" are coming after 7.95!
  • John Heizer
    John Heizer ✭
    Ancient Membership Facilitator 3 Photogenic

    Bill Connors:

    I have a picture of a slide from a bbcon presentation last month where senior RE product management indicate that "Customer Gender Values" are coming after 7.95!

    After 7.95, as in 7.96, or with 7.95?

  • Bill Connors
    Bill Connors ✭
    Ancient Membership Facilitator 2 Name Dropper Photogenic
    John, at this point in the presentation they were moving quickly and their point, as I recall, was "we still love RE 7" and it wasn't a full roadmap discussion of RE 7--in fact, it was the RE NXT roadmap session to begin with.  I assumed they meant something like 7.96 or later, but that's an assumption. They didn't dwell on this or even discuss the slide really, I barely had time to snap the pic.
  • Aldera Chisholm
    Aldera Chisholm ✭
    Ancient Membership Facilitator 2 Photogenic
    Very interesting! We have come across the challenge of how to address to people in the database without resorting to awkward use of full name where it would be nice to have a Mx. Smith.
  • Rachel Slager 2
    Rachel Slager 2 ✭
    Tenth Anniversary Facilitator 2 Photogenic
    I love that this is a discussion topic.



    With family and friends who fall into several categories of gender identity, I've learned some embarassing lessons that being proactive should come with caution.  I highly recommend avoiding the usage of a title like this unless requested by the person to whom it would be assigned, even though this is a thoughtful step in the right direction.  Instead, if their preference for a title is unknown, use of their full name without a title is the best way to avoid awkward assumptions.



    For instance, you might know a donor is transgender, but that doesn't mean that person feels gender neutral, in fact, they might strongly desire usage of the traditional title of the gender they affiliate with.  Gender neutral titles and pronouns are constantly changing, so what might be common use today is likely to change within a few short years.  And neutral titles are extremely regional right now, which can cause confusion for the person you're addressing.  Plus 'neutral' is still a perceived form of gender identitying which can cause a great deal of frustration for someone who strongly opposes identifying in any form, neutral or male/female.

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