New York City workers will soon be fluent in gender-studies speak. Medics and firefighters will receive their first two-hours sensitivity training on Tuesday to learn how to interact with and correctly address transgender people, the NY Post reports.
The “Trans 101” course was launched in March by the De Blasio administration after the mayor signed an executive order allowing people to use public facilities they identified with, regardless of the sex they were assigned at birth.
The Post reported that city employees at parks and public pools were also receiving training, as gender sensitivity issues are more likely to arise in changing rooms and bathrooms — particularly over the summer.
“It’s especially important for Parks employees [to take the training] because they work in a place that involves changing clothes,” a city spokesman told the Post.
The training will cover basic LGBTQ terminology — including examples of words that are outdated and could be considered offensive, such as “tranny,” “he-she” and “queer,” according to a city’s spokesman — and instruct staff how to ask for a person’s preferred pronoun.
This follows a city-wide awareness campaign to promote inclusive bathroom use for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.