A Student Who Writes for University System Newspaper Rejected He/Him Pronouns Added to Byline — Here’s What Happened Next

Normal-thinking people don’t use pronouns to describe themselves.

But you won’t believe what whoever runs the University System of New Hampshire’s student newspaper did. Some editor added “He/Him” to the byline of a student who writes articles for the newspaper. The student asked the editor(s) to remove the pronoun references based on his religious beliefs. The newspaper staff removed the article instead.

Liberty Counsel (LC) represents the student. LC wrote a letter (PDF) to the staff demanding that they restore the article without the pronouns. LC said that forcing the writer to identify with He/Him pronouns as a condition of publication violated his First Amendment rights.

In addition to demanding that the school restore the article and remove the pronouns, LC also demanded this:

“Please also confirm that no students, employees or staff members will be forced to use pronouns in their bylines or signature blocks. If we do not receive these confirmations, Liberty Counsel may take additional action to prevent irreparable harm.”

The University System of New Hampshire apparently weighed its options, realizing that retaliating against a student in this way obviously is illegal, and backed off.

The school system told LC that it does not have an official policy that requires staff, employees, or students to use pronouns in bylines or signature blocks.

“The University System of New Hampshire made the right decision to correct this free speech violation and restore the student’s article,” said Mat Staver, LC founder and chairman. “As a result, they will no longer require authors to use personal pronouns. The First Amendment guarantees a person’s right to express, or not to express, according to his or her religious beliefs and political values.”

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