Deadnaming is the act of referring to a person by the name given by their parents, instead of by the name they chose for themselves later in life. It is
considered by some to be an evil insult, and
considered by others as a simple
reference to who someone really is.
"If you grew up with
Marilyn Monroe, and you call her Norma Jean, you are deadnaming her. Stop it, you evil monster!"
---------
"I demand that you call her Caitlyn from now on."
"But his name is Bruce. I would feel guilty if I ignored my conscience by purposely perpetuating a lie.
I don't want to force myself to use a stage name as if it was real, or to pretend that someone is someone other than who they really are. If it upsets you when I use his real name or pronoun, then I will do my best to respect his feelings, and the feelings of others with your beliefs, by avoiding referring to him by EITHER name. And I will refer to him as 'they/them' instead of 'he/him'...but I refuse to refer to him as 'she/her'. I am doing my best to show respect for his feelings and yours, and I ask that you also respect MY feelings by not trying to force me to lie, and that you please stop trying to police my thoughts and beliefs with threats of
cancellation."
