What To Do If
A Party or Witness Expresses a Desire to be Identified as Gender-neutral on the Record?
By Rosalie Kramm, CSR – Principal, San Diego
Q: What do I do if a Party or Witness expresses a desire to be identified as gender-neutral on the record?
A: If an attorney or someone tells the court reporter that they are gender-neutral, the reporter/transcriptionist would use MX. rather than MS. or MR. for speaker identification
I was asked by a court reporter what to do if a person identifies themselves as gender-neutral. I did some research and learned the following:
“Gender-Neutral: The gender-neutral Mx. is used as a title for those who do not identify as being of a particular gender or for people who simply don’t want to be identified by gender. Mx. is a gender-neutral honorific for those who don’t wish to be identified by gender.”
If an attorney or someone tells the court reporter that they are gender-neutral, the reporter/transcriptionist would use MX. rather than MS. or MR. for speaker identification; for example:
- SMITH: Good morning, Your Honor. Jan Smith appearing for the defendants.
- JOHNSON: Good morning, Your Honor, Jim Johnson appearing on behalf of plaintiffs.
I would suggest only use the Mx. honorific if someone makes a particular request to be identified as gender-neutral.
Have you been in an “on the job” situation that you were unsure how to handle?
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Rosalie Kramm, CSR – Principal, San Diego
Rosalie Kramm began her career as a court reporter and owner/operator of Kramm Court Reporting in San Diego, California over 30 years ago, before joining Veritext Legal Solutions, the national leader in deposition services.
She sat on the Court Reporters Board of California with the Department of Consumer Affairs from 2013 through 2018 and has served as president of the Deposition Reporters Association of California, Society for the Technological Advancement of Reporting, and General Reporters Association of San Diego.
Kramm is a Certified Court Reporter in California and holds the national license of Certified Realtime Reporter. She also is a certified LiveNote trainer and frequent presenter for advanced workshops on the use of interactive real-time software, including Realtime with LiveNote, Summation, and Bridge. She also serves on the board of the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program.
