Wyoming woman’s hilarious pronoun protest goes viral: ‘Thank you, Madam Chairman’

During a debate in the Wyoming senate, Chairman Tim French, a legislator who voted that preferred pronouns cannot be “compelled speech” became irritated after he was not addressed by his own preferred pronoun.

Chairman French previously pushed for Wyoming to prohibit “the state and its political subdivisions from requiring the use of preferred pronouns“, but his support for this was tested recently.

The debate centred around House Bill 0032, also known as the ‘What is a Woman’ act, that aims to define a man and a woman “as based on biological sex determined at birth with regards to the respective ‘design’ of reproductive organs”, according to the ACLU of Alabama.

It was while taking questions and opinions from constituents that Chairman French took a Zoom call from a constituent named Britt Boril, who decided to use the opportunity to make a very valid point by calling him by a different pronoun.

As she appeared on screen, Boril began by saying: “Thank you, Madam Chairman.”

French interrupted her to say that she could call him “Mr. Chairman” and she hilariously replied: “Well, I cannot be compelled to use your preferred pronouns as you have all voted.”

“I prefer to be called ‘Chairman’ French,” he reiterated.

“I know, and you all voted that preferred pronouns cannot be compelled speech, in SF 77,” Boril said, before moving on to discuss her objections to the ‘What is a Woman’ Act.

@nowthisimpact

They voted against 'preferred pronouns' and now they want people to use the ones they prefer? Seems a bit unfair 🤷

♬ original sound – NowThis Impact

A clip of the interaction posted on TikTok with the caption “malicious compliance in action” received over 7 million views, and a whole host of comments misgendering French and calling him “madam” to further illustrate the point.

One person wrote: “No, you have to call ME my preferred pronouns. We voted so I don’t have to use YOURS.”

Others questioned why the chairman was so angry considering his previous voting record and some even made tongue-in-cheek jokes about how French should “smile more” and “not be so emotional”, questioning whether he was fit for office as a result of his little outburst.

The comments reflected similar sentiments previously aimed at cisgender women in politics, who have received criticism for being too “emotional” to hold office.

The clip also made its way to X, where people greatly enjoyed the short exchange and commented on how “funny” and “brilliant” it was to see Boril challenging French in this way.