Adding Custom Genders and Pronouns

Overview

Users can add and manage custom genders and pronouns in Veracross via several links on the System homepage (Configuration section, under Classification):

• Genders: Male and female are the default options and cannot be modified. Add new genders via the + Add Gender link (also on the “Add” menu).
• Pronouns: “He/Him,” “She/Her,” and “They/Them” are the default options and cannot be modified. Add new pronouns via the + Add Pronoun link (also on the “Add” menu).

Configured genders and pronouns are available on the “Other” tab of various person detail screens and there are several new pronoun fields that can be pulled into queries (see details below).

This update is purely additive; no system functionality has changed (see FAQ below), so no action is required if you do not want to add custom genders or pronouns.

Add a Gender

Genders have pronouns associated with them which are in turn applied to the people who are of those genders. Add a new gender via the “+ Add Gender link” (or “Add” menu) on the System homepage.

1. Add a description, abbreviation, and select the pronouns. The selection in the “Pronouns” drop-down populates the list in the middle column.
2. The different forms in these five fields display the pronouns selected in the “Pronouns” field.
3. Easily see input and update information.

Add Pronouns

Pronouns are configured as groups, which can then be associated with genders. Add a new pronoun group via the “+ Add Pronoun” link (or “Add” menu) on the System homepage.

1. Enter a name (description) of the pronoun group and then text for each individual form. If you are a little fuzzy on the difference between subjective and objective pronouns, etc., don’t worry — we have provided tooltips with examples. If you ever studied Latin, enjoy this fleeting moment of practical application.

Pronouns are inherited from gender on person records, but can be overridden for particular people (see below).

New Pronoun Fields

There are three new fields available in person queries:

Pronouns: Shows the pronoun set associated with the person’s gender unless an override is specified in the “Pronoun Override” field.

Pronoun Part of Speech (function field): There are two parameters:

• Part of speech (e.g., Subjective, Objective)
• Capitalize? Select “Yes” to capitalize the first letter of the pronoun (helpful for merge fields)

Pronoun Override: Select an override value if desired. Updating this field changes the value of the “Pronouns” field.

Examples in a Find Person Query

Below is a person query into which we have pulled in the fields:

• Gender
• Pronouns
• Two instances of the Pronoun Part of Speech function field, renamed to “Reflexive Pronoun (ff)” and “Possessive Adjective (ff)”
• Pronoun Override

1. These two columns are renamed instances of the “Pronoun Part of Speech” function field, designed to show the reflexive adjective and possessive adjective forms. These could be helpful when using these as merge fields.
2. The gender determines the pronouns used and are thus also reflected in the two function fields. Unless…
3. … an override value is specified, in which case the pronoun reflects the override value irrespective of gender.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do custom genders affect relationships, “head of household” calculations, etc.? No. Custom genders do not have associated relationships and are not factored into any system logic. Aspects of this will come down the road when reciprocal relationships are built out for custom genders.
2. What is happening with things like system email merge fields called “his/her,” etc.? In order to maintain backward compatibility, the names of merge field are not changed but will return the proper pronoun based on configuration.
3. Where are gender displays changed in the system?
   • Breakdown by gender in the teacher portal attendance page has been removed.
   • The Household Profile Update (HPU), the interface that families use to update household information, shows all configured genders.
   • If you have webforms on which you would like configured genders to appear, let us know.
   • This update has required significant updates throughout the system; gender displays or is factored in literally hundreds of places. We recommend testing configured genders.
4. Where are pronoun displays changed in the system?
   1. If you have permissions to see gender, you can see pronouns.
   2. Similar to gender, there are dozens of places throughout the system where pronouns can come into play. We recommend testing configured pronouns.