In mid-September, OPRF freshman Belle Bowker found a discarded pronoun button pin on the ground. They tried to refurbish it with epoxy resin and magnets, but something wasn’t right. “I had it, and I didn’t like it,” said Bowker. “So I thought I’d just make my own.” 

Bowker makes their own pins by hand, creating unique labels and designs. “What I do is I take a sheet of labels, and I print out this image that I make, and then I put pronouns on it and then I print that out,” said Bowker. “I attach the labels to some plywood that I cut down, and then I put pins in the back. I’ve made over 200 by now.”

Making these pins has had a positive impact on Bowker’s life. “It gives me something to do, something to escape to,” they said. The project has also reached the people around them, including Cryn, a fellow freshman who lives near them. Cryn has seen the creation process and even requested some for theirself. “It helped me at Thanksgiving with my homophobic family,” said Cryn. “It worked, actually, and it’s really nice to have everyone know your pronouns. I often get mislabeled as she/her, but I have noticed that people look at my pin before they talk to me because it’s eye-catching… it makes me feel less dysphoric.”

Bowker’s pins are done by commission, so each pin is tailored to the person. The pins are specifically customizable by gender, sexuality, and pronouns, and can be ordered in sets. In efforts to keep from outing anyone, Bowker generally doesn’t charge customers. Their pins can be requested by paper forms or on their website, https://bit.ly/pronoun_pins.