90-Year Old Fired For Not Understanding ‘Pronouns’

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Fran Itkoff, 90, from California, was fired from her volunteer position at the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society because she didn’t understand people’s “pronouns,” Breitbart reported Thursday.

Itkoff lost her husband to a degenerative disease some 20 years ago, replacing him as the head of the Long Beach Lakewood support group. She also volunteered for the national organization and has done so for 60 years. Over the years, she’s won multiple awards for her dedication, but Itkoff went viral in February after an interview she gave with LibsofTikTok.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAFG4YGK-0I&t=1s /

Itkoff’s Experience

“I was confused. I didn’t know what it was and what it meant,” she told LibsofTikTok founder Chaya Raichik, describing how she felt when her colleagues asked her to put her pronouns in her email signature. “I had seen it on a couple of letters that had come in after the person’s name. But I didn’t know what it meant. So when I finally talked to her, I asked what it meant… And she said that meant they were all-inclusive, which didn’t make sense to me.” (LEARN MORE: What NFL Stars Have To Say About Their Faith)

Within days of the conversation, Itkoff was fired. ““Unfortunately, based on the situation, we have made the difficult decision to have you step down from your volunteer position, effective immediately,” the organization’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion manager told Itkoff in an email.

Ironic

Itkoff’s daughter said the situation was “ironic” as “excluding a 90-year-old disabled woman who has volunteered for 60 years” doesn’t fall in line with the organization’s claim of inclusivity. “And literally the sole purpose was to help the MS patients and find a cure. That’s literally all she does,” she noted.

The organization said in a statement: “Recently, a volunteer, Fran Itkoff, was asked to step away from her role because of statements that were viewed as not aligning with our policy of inclusion. Fran has been a valued member of our volunteer team for more than 60 years. We believe that our staff acted with the best of intentions and did their best to navigate a challenging issue. As an organization, we are in a continued conversation about assuring that our diversity, equity, and inclusion policies evolve in service of our mission, and will reach out to Fran in service of this goal.”

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