re: University of Tennessee shuts down office that supports women

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At the start of fall semester in August, the UT Pride Center’s newsletter suggested that instructors learn students’ preferred names and pronouns in an effort to be more inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. The newsletter said not everyone thinks in traditional male-female terms and may not identify with the gender listed for them on class rosters, generated by student information systems. It noted that some prefer pronouns such as xe, xym and xyr.

Conservatives went ballistic, demanded the diversity office be "defunded" and lawmakers scheduled a Nashville hearing in the fall.

As that furor was dying down, the diversity office posted on its website a "Best Practices for Inclusive Holiday Celebrations in the Workplace" memo that suggested — but did not require — ways to make non-Christian university employees feel welcome at holiday office parties on campus. Most were no different from recommendations from UT administrators in prior years but the web post’s suggestions that office parties not be a "Christmas party in disguise" and discouraging an "emphasis on religion and or culture" and "secret Santa exchanges" first set off U.S. Rep. Jimmy Duncan, R-Tenn., who went on TV to charge it was political correctness run amok.

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