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."
