Dear Prudence,
I recently collaborated on a Twitter-related project with a co-worker, and in the process discovered “they/them” listed as their pronouns on their Twitter bio. They’ve never mentioned this at work, and everyone, including me, has been using gendered pronouns. I asked my co-worker privately what they preferred. They thanked me for asking and confirmed they prefer gender-neutral pronouns but hadn’t brought it up because they didn’t want anyone else to feel guilty for forgetting or getting it wrong. I asked if they’d like me to let other team members know, and they said it was “up to me” and that they really didn’t mind how others perceived them. Should I say anything to the rest of my team? If it matters, this co-worker is only part-time and both younger and more junior to the rest of us. I’m not a manager, so I don’t have any authority here, but I don’t expect any pushback or negative reactions from anyone else.
—Correcting Co-workers