Google encouraged attendees at its I/O developers conference to use preferred pronoun stickers, even providing non-binary options such as “They/Them,” and “Ze/Hir.”

“We care about your pronouns,” declared Google on a sign at the conference. “Add a sticker to your badge to share with others which ones you prefer.”

Attendees were able to pick from “He/Him,” “She/Her,” “They/Them,” and “Ze/Hir.”

At Google #io18, stickers to add to your badge to let people know which pronouns you prefer. pic.twitter.com/v1munoQOXT — Matt Keller (@MattKellerABC7) May 8, 2018

The pronoun stickers were celebrated by some conference attendees.

Thanks #googleio2018 for the pronoun stickers at check in. pic.twitter.com/g96jSfpEFu — Julia Grebenstein (@JGrebenstein) May 8, 2018

Reminder to all my fellow CIS people that this is an easy way to be an ally and have people not question your gender is a privilege. 😘 — Julia Grebenstein (@JGrebenstein) May 8, 2018

Others opted to criticize and mock the stickers.

yes, i hope everyone working at Google on building AI for the US military to target drone strikes is wearing a pronoun sticker https://t.co/jyyxiUkwIw — Evan Greer (@evan_greer) May 8, 2018

https://twitter.com/dabitch/status/994264868642611200

Google kinda let me down with this whole pronoun sticker thing. I was hoping for the tech conference I know and love, you know, WITHOUT having politics injected into it? Can't we just stick to the topic of the conference and not have to worry about this kind of thing? #io18 pic.twitter.com/6X51s0Ki74 — Xelleld (@XelleldIsWeird) May 8, 2018

According to SFGate, “Pronoun stickers are becoming increasingly common at conferences to foster inclusiveness and reduce instances of misgendering. The American Association of Physics Teachers uses the stickers at its conferences, for example.”

Microsoft Build Live, another technology conference which took place this week, also distributed pronoun stickers.

If you'd like a sparkly preferred pronoun sticker for your #MSBuild badge, come see us in the Lounge yay! ✨ pic.twitter.com/kDJbv2HZG2 — Allison Krug (@allinison) May 4, 2018