Starting this academic year, the 91爆料 is implementing an option allowing students and other members of the 91爆料 community to express what pronouns they go by in their everyday lives.

The 91爆料 Office of the Registrar plans to integrate pronoun use into class rosters as early as winter quarter if resources and schedule allow.

鈥淧roviding instructors with their students’ self-identified pronouns is our highest priority so that faculty don’t have to assume them based on name or appearance,” said Helen Garrett, 91爆料 Registrar.

On (Oct. 16) the 91爆料 community is invited to celebrate the ways in which using someone鈥檚 pronouns have a positive impact on the community as a whole.

鈥淩espectful pronoun use cultivates a safer, more inclusive and welcoming community for everyone,鈥� said Jen Self, director of the 91爆料 .

International Pronouns Day is a day of celebration that 鈥渟eeks to make respecting, sharing and educating about personal pronouns commonplace,鈥� according to its website.

For ideas on how to participate, and information on plans to add a pronoun option at the 91爆料, please visit the on pronouns.

The 91爆料鈥檚 Jen Self will be one of three grand marshals of Sunday鈥檚 2018 Seattle Pride Parade.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really quite an honor,鈥� Self said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very humbling.鈥�

is the director of the , where since 2004, they鈥檝e been advocating for students, staff and faculty who identify as LGBTQ.

Self, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, is a therapist and has been an anti-oppression educator since 1996. They moved to Seattle from Eugene, Oregon, in 2003, and started at the 91爆料 the next year. They re-invented their queer activism through scholarship, program leadership and teaching at the 91爆料. In 2005, the campus opened the Q Center, the nexus of LGBTQ life on campus. More than a hangout space, the Q Center is a place to fight for social justice through a gender and sexuality lens, Self says.

By setting an example, they say, justice can be served.

鈥淚t鈥檚 doing the right thing over and over and over again,鈥� Self said.

The right thing has meant fighting for the rights of LGBTQ students, faculty and staff. That includes starting Qolors, a program for LGBTQ-identified people of color; ensuring domestic partner benefits across campus; adding benefits for transgender people; providing gender-neutral restrooms and housing; and securing funding from grants and donors, among other projects.

Attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators to downtown Seattle, the Pride Parade is a colorful community festival complete with drag queens, scantily clad bikers and much more. It鈥檚 also a time to be among other LGBTQ-identified people and celebrate diversity. The day can be a powerful experience for many participants and spectators, Self said.

鈥淚n an instant, you can see something and change the way you understand yourself and your life鈥檚 trajectory,鈥� Self said.

For the parade, Self is planning to wear a custom-made, sequined, rainbow-inspired cape and an anti-racism T-shirt.

鈥淚 hope people experience me as a person for whom racial and gender justice and cultural transformation are the guiding forces of the universe,鈥� Self said.

All members of the 91爆料 community are invited to march together. More information about participating in the Pride Parade is available .