The Babbling Bear is flamboyantly happy that Provost Kotlikoff has released the shiny new Cornell LGBTQ+ Resource Guide for Faculty & Staff. The guide simultaneous celebrates Cornell’s LBGTQ+ community and its rich history, while pointing out the harm that can occur when free speech is tolerated on campus. Its guidance on language use, includes examples of harmful speech, which include, deadnaming, misgendering, and the use of the word queer.

Deadnaming: Referring to a transgender person (who has changed their name) by the name they were assigned at birth. Deadnaming normally occurs for one of three reasons: 1) Someone accidentally deadnames because they are used to using that name. 2) Someone purposefully deadnames to cause distress or because they object to name changes. 3) Someone purposefully deadnames because of their beliefs.

Misgendering: The act of referring to a person by incorrect pronouns and/or name if a person has changed their name/pronouns.

Queer:
• an umbrella and inclusive term used to encompass LGBTQ+ communities, including sexual orientation, preferences, habits, and genders.
• an identity used in place of more specific denominators to state non-heteronormative status without specific descriptions of sexual activity, preference or gender;
• A hateful slur reclaimed in the 1960s against a backdrop of AIDS activism as a term of defiant pride. Some people remain deeply uncomfortable with its use. Given the
word’s charged history, caution should be taken when using this term, especially by those outside LGBTQ+ communities.

The guide will help white cis heteronormative transphobic biologists realize that:

The terms “male” and “female” fail to capture the complex biological, anatomical and
chromosomal variations in the human body,

and consequently, because of there will be fewer (micro) aggressions experienced by LGBTQ+ students.

Note that:

(Micro)aggressions are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults — whether intentional or unintentional –that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages and target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership.

And thanks to the Cornell LGBTQ+ Resource Guide for Faculty & Staff, Cornell University will become

an inclusive campus where all students, staff, and faculty … know they belong.