In a move towards inclusivity, the Post Office in the UK has responded to a petition by the LGBTQ+ advocacy group “Include Mx”, announcing the removal of gender titles from general inquiry forms. Here’s the full story.
Successful Petition
The petition, hosted on change.org, garnered nearly 300 signatures within a month of its launch.
The initiative aimed to address the exclusion of non-binary people, who were limited to choosing from traditional binary titles like Mr, Miss, and Mrs, or academic titles such as Dr, on the Post Office’s general inquiry forms.
A spokesperson from the Post Office expressed gratitude to Include Mx founder Tom Pashby, commending their unwavering dedication to this cause.
Removed Titling Altogether
“We regularly discuss this topic, and recently came to the decision to remove titling altogether from our forms to ensure inclusivity for all of our customers,” the spokesperson added.
Journalist Tom Pashby welcomed the news and wrote, “This is good news for non-binary people and anyone who doesn’t want to share their gender, marital status, or other identities implied by titles.”
Pashby explained the importance of dismantling title fields altogether in scenarios where individuals would not feel pressured to define and reveal their identities to companies unnecessarily.
Advocating for the Gender-Neutral Title “Mx”
Include Mx, established in 2020, supports the addition of the gender-neutral title “Mx” to forms across major brands.
Their advocacy has resulted in several prominent UK retailers, including Argos, Wickes, Debenhams, and Next, adopting the Mx title on online customer forms.
Speaking to the media, Pashby said, “In an ideal world, we would get rid of title fields altogether. It would mean people don’t feel pressured into defining and revealing their identities to companies that often don’t need the information anyway.”
“Many forward-thinking organizations have already deleted the title sections from their forms. Where organizations do still have a title section, Include Mx calls on them to make sure they are inclusive towards their non-binary customers by including Mx,” Pashby added.
“The UK Is Gone”
Several social media users expressed their thoughts on the incident.
One Twitter user wrote, “Can’t wait for transphobes to get made with a simple option that doesn’t affect them.”
Another user added, “Absolute freak show. You’re expected to believe in a government that can’t even acknowledge reality. The UK is gone.”
A third user commented, “The intolerant lunatic fringe of the right-wing strikes again.”
The post Advocates for the Gender-Neutral Title “Mx” Win Campaign to Change UK Post Office Forms first appeared on The Net Worth Of.
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