Wednesday, Oct. 17 marked the first International Pronouns Day. International Pronouns Day was created to help encourage people to share and respect each other’s pronouns.

“There are almost two hundred organizations, Guilford being one of them, supporting the very first International Pronouns Day,” said Meagan Mcneely, LGBTQIA Coordinator of the Bayard Rustin Center.

However, as Guilford will be on break on Oct. 17, Guilford Pride decided to celebrate International Pronouns Day on Oct. 1, as part of Queer History Month. The club worked to set up a pronoun-button-making table in Founders Hall.

“For people who really want their pronouns to be known, buttons are a really easy way, like a name tag for those who don’t know your name, don’t know your pronouns. It’s just really easily presentable,” Mcneely said. “It takes away that awkward ask of ‘hey, what are your pronouns?’”

Celebrating International Pronoun Day helps to create a more inclusive environment here at Guilford.

“It’s pretty cool that Guilford College is celebrating International Pronouns Day,” said sophomore Ian Gordan. “It shows transgender and non-conforming students that they’re accepted here and that it’s okay to be different.”

Attending students explained why celebrating pronouns is important to themselves and the community.

“I feel like it’s very important so that people know what your pronouns are, so you don’t get misidentified, because your identity is the most important thing you have,” said sophomore Haleigh Duke.

Celebrating International Pronouns Day is a way for Guilford Pride to reach out and give back to their community.

“We’re trying to make sure that we’re not just a club that just is meeting,” said Guilford Pride Secretary Carrington Smith. “We’re trying to get ourselves out there, let people know our community is being represented on campus. So, it’s little things like this. We try to get people to talk about pronouns because they’re important to people, it’s the little things.”

Throughout the month of October, Guilford Pride will be continuing to celebrate Queer History Month with different LGBTQ+ related events.

“We have a professor, Chad Phillips, he works in the theater department. He also teaches gay and lesbian cinema. He is going to be having a talk about queer representation in the media” Smith said. “We’re going to have a dinner focused on Coming Out Day. It’s going to be in the Gilmore Room. It’s going to be like an informal type dinner, and anyone who just wants to share their coming out story can. It’s just an open space.”

Along with hosting new events, Guilford Pride is always accepting new people into their club.

“We’re an open space, we’re an open club,” Smith said. “If anyone wants to join, our meetings are on Wednesdays from five to six at the BRC, that’s located in King Hall. You can come to our meetings or events.”