Meet Tay, the first non-binary firefighter in West Yorkshire

Tay Stevenson, who recently joined West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (WYFRS), told how they are settling into life as a firefighter at Halifax station.

The crew has embraced using the correct pronouns, they/them, leaving the 37-year-old with a sense of feeling accepted and whole.

Many employees are now proactively sharing their pronoun preference at work, WYFRS said.

Tay hopes their story will help more people understand why using the right pronouns can mean so much.

Tay said: “While growing up I always felt like I didn’t fit into the stereotypical male gender, mentally it just doesn’t match who I am, but neither did the female. I put this intrinsic feeling of not matching to one side and I got on with life.

“I met my partner and we fell in love, she was the first person who really accepted me. She was the only one I had talked to about how I felt.

Tay Stevenson, pictured left, is a firefighter at Halifax station, pictured right (Image: WYFRS)

“We didn’t fully understand what I was, but we loved each other.”

It was the moment Tay filled out an application form for a job when they discovered the term ‘non-binary’.

“I realised that ‘non-binary’ is exactly what I am, what I always have been,” Tay said.

“I wasn’t wrong, it wasn’t that I didn’t fit but the male and female terms didn’t fit me.

“This was so important to me, and such a relief. This constant unease of not fitting with the gender I was assigned at birth, but not wanting to transition, was finally addressed. I came out to my colleagues in my previous job, and they were supportive.

“I find it lovely when people use my preferred pronouns, however I typically don't share my pronouns immediately or unless they ask. I like to tell them in my own time.

“If someone introduces themselves and shares their pronouns, then it’s much easier for me to do the same.”

Tay remembers feeling nerves after being sent to their first night shift at nearby Huddersfield station.

One shift later, Tay’s colleagues were using they/them without a second’s thought.

Tay said: “On the fire-ground I am just a firefighter and pronouns at that point are not a priority for me, at least until after the incident has been managed.

“However, what ‘they’ and ‘them’ mean to me is that the person using those pronouns are doing their best to recognise me for who I am. I am validated in just being myself.”