11 thoughts on “All-gender walk sign in London”

  1. I guess this answers your earlier question, “Do the British need a dose of American political correctness?”.

  2. I wasn’t familiar with the symbol on the lower right – it’s for transgender. Here is an explanation of the symbols:

    http://www.cakeworld.info/transsexualism/gender-symbols

    I mistakenly assumed the “intersexual” symbol to be the transgender symbol.

    If you look at humanity as a collection of gaussian distributions for different characteristics (and in the case of genders often bimodal), then I can understand the frustration of the LGBT community has when they don’t fit into the black and white categories that society imposes for various reasons of simplicity. I think the problem gets particularly pronounced in the USA since the government/hospital/school/university/workplace constantly gives you forms to fill out with check boxes for male, female, hispanic, black, white, native american, asian, mixed, disabled, ADHD, vaccinated, STDs, etc. In Europe I hardly ever recall having to fill out more than sex and age even for my residence permit applications (ok, and nationality or country that issued my passport). I never had to fill out a questionaire when visiting a doctor/dentist/hospital here in Europe. Maybe the paperwork is a constant reminder that they are outsiders to the norm – hence the need to ‘normalize’ the rare/unusual subsets of society.

  3. OK, for my taxes, I had to put in whether I was married (or just a live-in partner), single and with or without kids.. but that is the extent of it.

  4. Trannies, homos, and normal people take turns when crossing the streets in London. Who knew?

  5. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that symbol on a circuit diagram.

    I like the impulse toward inclusion, but I don’t think this signal makes the connection.

  7. Bobby: “trannies” and “homos”? That’s painful to read. I guess I have to take some of the blame for noticing these walk signs (not to say “abnormal” walk signs!), and I do appreciate an open discussion, and I also appreciate avoidance of euphemism, but I would be grateful if we refrained from using labels that are known to be offensive to some groups.

  8. Is there even a way to discuss these people in detail without being offensive in some respect?

  9. For example, please describe the unique behaviors of a ‘pansexual’.

    Here is one list of gender options at Facebook, which I assume is palatable to the great and good former puritans of Massachusetts

    Agender
    Androgyne
    Androgynous
    Bigender
    Cis
    Cisgender
    Cis Female
    Cis Male
    Cis Man
    Cis Woman
    Cisgender Female
    Cisgender Male
    Cisgender Man
    Cisgender Woman
    Female to Male
    FTM
    Gender Fluid
    Gender Nonconforming
    Gender Questioning
    Gender Variant
    Genderqueer
    Intersex
    Male to Female
    MTF
    Neither
    Neutrois
    Non-binary
    Other
    Pangender
    Trans
    Trans*
    Trans Female
    Trans* Female
    Trans Male
    Trans* Male
    Trans Man
    Trans* Man
    Trans Person
    Trans* Person
    Trans Woman
    Trans* Woman
    Transfeminine
    Transgender
    Transgender Female
    Transgender Male
    Transgender Man
    Transgender Person
    Transgender Woman
    Transmasculine
    Transsexual
    Transsexual Female
    Transsexual Male
    Transsexual Man
    Transsexual Person
    Transsexual Woman
    Two-Spirit

    Here are more options available to UK users, it appears:

    Asexual
    Female to male trans man
    Female to male transgender man
    Female to male transsexual man
    F2M
    Gender neutral
    Hermaphrodite
    Intersex man
    Intersex person
    Intersex woman
    Male to female trans woman
    Male to female transgender woman
    Male to female transsexual woman
    Man
    M2F
    Polygender
    T* man
    T* woman
    Two* person
    Two-spirit person
    Woman

    Note that ‘Tory’ is not listed.

  10. @Tom #11: Coming soon to schools near us, students will be required to memorize this list before memorizing the periodic table.

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