Kansas University (not to be confused with Kansas State) introduced a new program through its library system in which students are given free buttons that feature the students’ preferred gender pronouns. A sign at the KU library reads, “Each person has the right to identify their own pronouns, and we encourage you to ask before assuming someone’s gender. Pronouns matter!”
The library system had started a marketing campaign called You Belong Here, and the buttons have become a major part of the effort. Kevin Smith, the libraries dean, told the Associated Press, “A commitment to support the voices of marginalized people is part and parcel to the libraries’ commitment to the values of the First Amendment.”
Workers at KU’s libraries can choose to wear the buttons, and according to Rebecca Smith, the library system’s chief of communications and advancement, demand has been so high that the buttons have already had to be reordered.
