The move was prompted by an email from Sai Tejo, a second year student of MA Criminology and Justice who wrote to the administration, asking them to introduce the gender-neutral salutation option
In a move that is probably the first for an Indian institution, Mumbai's Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has allowed its students to opt for gender-neutral salutation in their certificates.
The institute has added 'Mx' to the existing list of honorifics — Mr, Ms, Mrs and Dr — on the forms that students have to fill out before the convocation, scheduled to take place in May 2018.
The move was prompted by an email from Sai Tejo, a second year student of MA Criminology and Justice who wrote to the administration, asking them to introduce the gender-neutral salutation option.
A member of the TISS queer collective, Sai said the idea was to make it easier for people who do not conform to gender binaries have an alternative rather than having to compulsively go for a 'Mr' or 'Ms'.
"Gender non-conforming people or those who do not associate themselves with the gender binaries of male and female are often forced to pick a gendered salutation in application forms and documents. I wrote to the administration, requesting them to add 'Mx' which is a gender-neutral salutation that students can opt for and their graduation certificates will carry that title," he added.
Within a few days, Sai received a reply from the TISS administration, stating they have approved the request and have included the prefix 'Mx' to the list of salutations that will be used in certificates.
"While the administration did not send out an official email to all the students, all of us who got to know about it have been spreading the message through our social networks so that more people know that there is such an option available."
Harish Iyer, an equal rights activist, congratulated the institute for making the bold move. "The worst that can happen to any individual is being called by a gender pronoun or prefix that one does not relate to. This addition of 'Mx' will go a long way and I hope that other institutions, too, add it to their list," Iyer said.
FIGHT FOR GENDER-NEUTRAL TITLE
- ‘Mx’ is the most commonly used gender-neutral honorific which has been officially recognised by the UK government
- It offers a way to transgenders to avoid specifying gender, besides persons who don’t wish to indicate a binary gender
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