Petition persuades Milton Keynes-based Argos to be more gender neutral

A petition has been launched on change.org by non-binary activist Tom Pashby, who founded the LGBTQIA+ campaign called ‘Include Mx’.

They claim non-binary people and others have been asking Argos to add Mx to their forms since 2011. But the retailer, whose head office is in Avebury Boulevard at CMK, has ignored requests or simply responded by saying they will” look into it.”

Tom said: "Most people probably sail through online order forms hardly even thinking about what they’re typing. For many people like me, it can be an immensely frustrating experience because of companies forcing us into using a binary gendered title like Mr or Ms.

“Argos incorporated the Pride colours into their corporate logo in 2022, but still refused to make their forms accessible to non-binary people and others who want to use the gender-neutral title Mx.

Tom added: “I ordered some household goods from Argos during the first few months of the pandemic and had to misgender myself to get the deliveries.

"I decided it was time to put my campaigns and communications skills to use, mainly with the selfish aim of being able to use forms without having to think about my own gender, but also to make life easier for fellow non-binary and agender people, and anyone else who doesn’t want to reveal their gender identity to corporations who probably only want that information for targeted marketing purposes.”

Argos order forms have a title field and give the options of Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms or Dr.

Tom said: “This leaves me with the choice to either misgender myself, which can be deeply uncomfortable, or to boycott their services.

“If you’re a man, imagine not seeing a masculine title (Mr) and having to select from Mrs, Miss, Ms or Dr? It’s annoying and you would probably select one which you don’t want to use just to get the order confirmed.”

Tom wrote an article for PinkNews this month explaining why it is important that Argos include Mx.

As a result of the campaign, Argos, which is part of the Sainsbury’s group, has agreed to offer the Mx alternative.

A spokesperson for the group told the Citizen: “We want to be an inclusive retailer where everyone feels welcome. Some of our colleagues and customers have told us they would like to use a gender-neutral title when they work and shop with us. We have listened to this feedback and added Mx as an option on our Groceries Online service and colleague HR system. But we know we need to go further and we want to offer this across our entire business.”

They added: “We wish this was a quick and simple process. Unfortunately it involves updating a range of different and complex systems, so we’re asking our customers and colleagues to bear with us while this is worked through.”