Australian War Memorial is slammed for switching to ‘gender neutral’ pronouns
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Australian War Memorial Comes Under Fire For Switching To ‘Gender Neutral’ Pronouns For Fallen Soldiers: ‘The Worst Form Of Disrespect’
- Australian War Memorial shares the story of a fallen soldier on Twitter every day
- However, since January 1 he began to refer to fallen soldiers as ‘his’
- Memorial says the pronoun change is to stop mixing the gender of soldiers
- However, critics have dismissed the explanation as “unfortunate awakening”.
The Australian War Memorial has been criticized for using “gender neutral” pronouns to honor fallen soldiers.
Every day at 4:45pm, the Canberra-based memorial holds a last posting ceremony to remember a fallen Australian soldier, before posting a tribute to the soldier on its Twitter account.
However, from January 1, he began referring to welds as ‘his’ instead of ‘his’ or ‘her’.
A memorial source insisted that ‘his’ was being used to stop mixing the genders of fallen soldiers.
However, opposition veterans affairs spokesman Barnaby Joyce criticized the memorial, describing the move as a “regrettable awakening”.
The Australian War Memorial (pictured in Canberra) has been criticized for using “gender neutral” pronouns when paying tribute to fallen soldiers.
Opposition veterans affairs spokesman Barnaby Joyce criticized the memorial, describing the move as a “regrettable awakening”.
“The use of ‘their’ is grammatically correct and is used only to denote possession,” a spokesperson for the memorial told the Adelaide Advertiser.
Mr Joyce responded: ‘Nobody buys the argument that this was suddenly changed to ensure perfect grammar.
“The notion that this decision was made to avoid online errors is equally incredible, because the Australian War Memorial uses the correct pronouns in ceremonies.”
He called the decision the “worst form of disrespect” towards Australia’s soldiers and questioned who made the decision to change the policy.
The first posting under the new policy saw the memorial pay tribute to Flight Lieutenant Leo Braham Patkin.
“At the Last Post Ceremony on January 1, 2023, we remember and pay tribute to Flight Lieutenant Leo Braham Patkin and his service in World War II,” he wrote.
Wednesday’s post read: “At the Last Post Ceremony on January 4, 2023, we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Albert Edward Flint and his service in World War II.”
The publications contrast with those before the new year.
Since January 1, the memorial has begun referring to soldiers as ‘his’ instead of ‘his’ or ‘she’.
A December 28 post read: “At the last posting ceremony on December 28, 2022, we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Francis Thomas Joseph Kilmartin and his service in World War I.”
Unlike her Last Post entries on social media, the memorial uses he and she when referring to service men and women.
A spokeswoman for Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh said: “The minister was unaware of the wording of the Australian War Memorial tweets.”
“The Australian War Memorial is an independent agency and is responsible for its own social media,” the spokeswoman said.