A 90-year-old disabled California woman said she has been dismissed from her volunteer role with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society because she asked for clarity on the use of pronouns.
The Daily Wire reported that Fran Itkoff, 90, told Libs of TikTok's Chaya Raichik she was dismissed from the position for failing to abide by the organization's diversity, equity, and inclusion guidelines.
Itkoff told Raichik a few colleagues requested her pronouns, but she was confused.
"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," she said.
"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," she added, "because it sounds like you are labeling for females, not males, if you are just putting in she/her."
She was asked to step down several days later.
"Unfortunately, based on the situation, we have made the difficult decision to have you step down from your volunteer position, effective immediately," the email read.
"We appreciate your dedication and contribution as a Self-Help Group Leader with our organization. As we discussed earlier during a phone conversation, after a thorough review of our guidelines and standards, it has come to our attention that there has been a failure to abide by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion guidelines during your time as a volunteer."
Itkoff said she was "completely shocked when I read that. I couldn't believe that. I had to read it a couple of times to see if I'm getting what she said."
The National MS Society defended the decision.
"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," the nonprofit said on Thursday.
"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."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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