Reimagine Gender is a left-of-center transgender advocacy organization. Founded in 2020, Reimagine Gender is a spinoff of the defunct Gender Spectrum group and advises families, corporations, and policymakers on transgender issues. It offers “Gender Insights,” short articles advocating for societal changes in the understanding of gender ideology. It also hosts an e-learning course aimed at companies looking to realign employee gender interactions. ^{1 2}

Background

Reimagine Gender is a child and later successor organization of Gender Spectrum Charitable Fund (Gender Spectrum), which billed itself as a resource for transgender youth and their families. This group had been active in school districts across the country, and was reportedly behind many policy shifts in K-12 schools. ³

Purportedly, Reimagine Gender was conceived when Gender Spectrum received requests to give training courses on gender, coupled with a desire to influence policymakers in areas outside of Gender Spectrum’s purview. Lisa Kenney, at that time executive director of Gender Spectrum, was tapped to lead the new organization. ⁴

In September 2023, Gender Spectrum ceased operations. ⁵

Activities

Reimagine Gender offers consultation services, workshops, and leadership training to legislators and companies looking to shift gender perspectives or craft policies relating both internally to their organization and to the public sector. ⁶ It also offers a $25 online learning course called “Navigating the New World of Gender to Help Your Organization Thrive.” The course is meant as a resource for companies, providing a lens through which to shape their policy and employee interactions to align with Reimagine Gender’s views. ⁷

Among other organizations, Reimagine Gender partners with Microsoft, the American Automobile Association (AAA), the University of Illinois, and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. ⁸

Gender Insights

Reimagine Gender’s “Gender Insights” present its views on transgender issues, making various suggestions on how gender perceptions shape society, and ways in which these perceptions may be changed. Topics include “The Joy of Being Non-binary,” “The Problem with Mother’s and Father’s Day,” and “A Short(ish) Guide to Honorifics and Pronouns.” ⁹

Among other issues, Reimagine Gender highlights a purported “intersection” between gender ideology and immigration concerns, stating that dozens of countries have “criminalized transgender people.” It draws a similar link between gender ideology and the environment, stating that climate issues affect transgender people more keenly due to the higher poverty rate experienced by this demographic. Reimagine Gender referred to an interview with Sierra Club deputy press secretary Precious Brady-Davis, in which she claimed that transgender individuals sometimes have trouble receiving aid after natural disasters if their legal documentation does not match their current gender expression; she also claimed that gender-based violence increases after natural disasters. ^{10 11}

It also suggests that health-care forms should include more than just binary options for gender classification, that health insurance needs to cover mental health and clinical issues related to questions of gender, and that clinicians need special gender training. ¹²

Reimagine Gender’s website offers a link to the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Model Local Education Agency Policy page, which states that educators should use the pronouns and name requested by the student, regardless of whether a legal name change has occurred. ¹³

Workplace

In its Insight topic “Masculinity at Work,” Reimagine Gender suggested that workplaces can be hostile toward those who do not conform to a “very specific kind of masculinity,” which it later defines as being characterized by traits such as “stoicism, competitiveness, dominance, and aggression.” This “cis-heteronormative” approach to workplace structures can result it imbalances, such as office heating temperatures being too cold, voice recognition software functioning better for “a specific type of male voice,” and unisex protective gear that does not fit women as well as it does men. Reimagine Gender also laments that many networking opportunities occur outside the workplace, “at traditionally masculine activities, like playing or watching sports and grabbing after work beers” which may exclude those who do not share these interests. Among other advice, Reimagine Gender proposes that companies should discourage a “culture of masculinity contests” by not rewarding employees for working extra hours. ¹⁴

Women’s Organizations

One of the topics covered dealt with women and girls’ groups like Girl Scouts of America, and whether such organizations would have to change their titles, and to what extent they would stay aligned to their mission without excluding transgender individuals. Reimagine Gender lists possibilities such as “broadening your audience,” again citing Girl Scouts, which made the decision to include anyone who was “recognized by the family and school/community as a girl and lives culturally as a girl.” While stating “there is no right or wrong answer,” Reimagine Gender also cited the group Lesbians Who Tech, which had to grapple with the question of how to be more “gender inclusive;” the group settled on keeping its original name while adjusting its use of language to achieve this goal. ¹⁵

Leadership

Lisa Kenney is the CEO of Reimagine Gender and was executive director of Gender Spectrum until 2020. Kenney is also the former vice president of global marketing for biopharmaceutical company Genedata, and former president of the E-Squared business consulting firm. ¹⁶

1. “Insights.” Reimagine Gender. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://www.reimaginegender.org/insights
2. “Understandings of Gender are Changing-Fast.” Reimagine Gender. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://reimaginegender.mylearnworlds.com/course/navigating-the-new-world-of-gender-to-help-your-organization-thrive
3.  “Controversial Gender-focused Program ‘Gender Spectrum’ Ceases Direct Service Programming.” ABC 15 News. September 29, 2023. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://wpde.com/news/nation-world/controversial-gender-focused-program-gender-spectrum-ceases-direct-service-programming-lgbtq-transgender-student-policies-shutdown-parents-defending-education-schools
4.  “Our Story.” Reimagine Gender. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://www.reimaginegender.org/our-story
5.  “Help Trans Staff Hurt by Gender Spectrum Layoffs.” Accessed December 18, 2023. https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-trans-staff-hurt-by-gender-spectrum-layoffs
6. “Offerings and Upcoming Events.” Reimagine Gender. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://www.reimaginegender.org/offerings
7. “Understandings of Gender are Changing-Fast.” Reimagine Gender. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://reimaginegender.mylearnworlds.com/course/navigating-the-new-world-of-gender-to-help-your-organization-thrive
8. “Understanding Gender.” Reimagine Gender. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://reimaginegender.mylearnworlds.com/home
9. “Insights.” Reimagine Gender. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://www.reimaginegender.org/insights
10. “5 Ways to Reimagine Gender in Policy Making.” Reimagine Gender. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://www.reimaginegender.org/insights/5-ways-to-reimagine-gender-in-policy-making
11. Calma, Justine. “Yes, Trans Rights are an Environmental Issue Too.” Grist. October 29, 2018. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://grist.org/article/transgender-rights-climate-intersectionality/
12. “5 Ways to Reimagine Gender in Policy Making.” Reimagine Gender. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://www.reimaginegender.org/insights/5-ways-to-reimagine-gender-in-policy-making
13. “Model Local Education Policy Relating to Transgender and Nonbinary Students.” GLSEN. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://www.glsen.org/activity/model-local-education-agency-policy-on-transgender-nonbinary-students#i
14. “Masculinity at Work.” Reimagine Gender. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://www.reimaginegender.org/insights/masculinity-at-work
15. “As Gender Evolves, Should Womens’ and Girls, Organizations Evolve Too?” Reimagine Gender. Accessed December 18, 2023. https://www.reimaginegender.org/insights/should-women-and-girl-organizations-evolve-too
16. “Lisa Kinney.” “Linkedin.” Accessed December 18, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisakenney/