Johns Hopkins Medicine staff given roadmap to navigate dozens of pronouns: ‘faerself, ve, xe”

Employees at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Maryland were given a new pronoun usage guide that lists dozens of pronouns including “aerself” and “faerself” while staffers navigate a recent inclusive ID policy, Fox News Digital has learned.

A pronoun usage guide from Johns Hopkins Medicine details 50 different pronouns that healthcare employees could use in the workplace, with other options including ve, xe, per, and ae. 

The guide includes examples of how to use the pronouns, such as: “Ae cleaned the office all by aerself,” or “I gave faer the key.”

The guide also shows how to use titles correctly, such as using “Mr.” for men, “Miss” for women, or “Mx.” for “nonbinary or gender diverse people.” 

The guide comes alongside a policy that went into effect last year and allows workers to use their legal names on badges and can opt for a name that fits with their gender identities.

Johns Hopkins Medicine’s program director for LGBTQ+ Equity and Education Paula Neira said on a podcast this year that in addition to patients using a chosen name for their wristbands, professionals who work for the hospital system can also use a chosen name on their ID badges.

“On the workforce side, for our people, we updated the ID badge policy this March of 2022 to allow us to use a chosen name on our ID badge,” Neira said on the podcast Fundamentals for LGBTQ+ Cultural Awareness, which was published by Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Learning Technology & Innovation. “Maryland law had changed, which allows that to happen.”

Neira noted there are two exceptions to the rule of employees using a chosen name on their badges as opposed to their legal name, such as being licensed by the Washington, D.C., government, which requires ID badges to match the name on an employee’s certification.

Or for public safety officers in the state who can have their chosen name on the Johns Hopkins-issued badge, but Maryland State Police requires identification that matches their legal names. 

The podcast, which was hosted by a senior instructional designer for the Johns Hopkins Health System, thanked Neira for clarifying the rule, noting she thought “in a health care setting legal names had to be used all the time.”

Neira is a transgender military vet who previously served as the clinical program director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender and Gender Expansive Health before becoming the program director of LGBTQ+ Equity and Education at Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity.

Neira made history in 2015 as the first transgender Navy veteran whose discharge documentation was updated to reflect her new name.

In response to the name rules, Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a retired professor and the former associate dean for curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said that doctors and patients must have “clear” communication and that this change to name and pronoun rules muddies the waters and suggests political bias. 

“The most important component of the physician-patient relationship is the ability to have clear and appropriate communication,” Goldfarb said. “To use pronouns associated with one’s identification badge suggests that an individual has a particular ideological and political perspective.”

Goldfarb currently serves as the board chair of Do No Harm, a group of healthcare professionals, medical students, and policymakers working to “protect healthcare from a radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideology.”

“For some patients, this may be off-putting and actually damage the physician, patient relationship. Also, using a name that suggests a different gender from what the patient can clearly identify also could damage the physician, patient relationship, and should be avoided,” Goldfarb added.

A Johns Hopkins Medicine spokesperson said JHM is committed to “fostering a supportive, diverse, and inclusive community.

“As part of this focus and in compliance with Federal and state regulations, we enable our faculty, staff, and employees to choose the way their names are displayed on their identification badges,” the spokesperson said. 

“There are many reasons individuals may choose how they are identified, for example, some people may prefer to use a middle name, have cultural distinctions or preferences, or have gender-ambiguous names,” the spokesperson added. “JHM will continue to provide options to our community to ensure a respectful and inclusive environment.”