New York subway announcers are to use ‘gender-neutral language’ to appease ‘non-binary’ people.
Under new rules, employees of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will use words like “passengers” or “riders” instead of ‘ladies and gentlemen’.
The change is part of a wider plan by the MTA on how its staff should communicate with passengers.
’Gender-neutral’ language
It comes after a similar move by the London Underground, which adopted gender-neutral language in its announcements earlier this year.
Transport for London (TfL) informed its workers to begin announcements with ‘hello everyone’ instead of ‘ladies and gentlemen’ to ensure Tube stations are “fully inclusive”.
Homosexual lobby group Stonewall celebrated the news, claiming that language is “extremely important to the lesbian, gay, bi and trans community”.
TfL says it will “issue reminders to staff” who still use the phrase ‘ladies and gentlemen’.
’Diversity’
Speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio at the time, Deputy Director of The Christian Institute Simon Calvert said: “I think that there will be many transgender people themselves who would say they are not offended by people saying ladies and gentlemen.
“And we also have to be very careful about trying to adjust the whole of reality and the whole of society just through the lens, the experience and the feelings of one group of people.
“We used to talk a lot about diversity, that word doesn’t get used as much anymore. There’s very much a sense of uniformity and that everybody has to think and believe the same things, especially when it comes to LGBT issues, but people don’t.”
