LHCb Early Career, Gender and Diversity Office

Non-binary and transgender people @ LHCb

LHCb is a welcoming environment for everybody, including colleagues who are transgender or with non-binary gender identities (see the LHCb Code of Conduct). If you experience or witness any kind of discrimination, do not hesitate to contact the ECGD officers (see contact information in the main ECGD web page) or the CERN ombud (see details and contact information here).

In June 2021 a collaboration-wide ECGD session was organised around the theme "Supporting transgender and non-binary colleagues". The indico page of the session is accessible here.

Registration to LHCb

In June 2021 we included a non-binary option in the LHCb registration form (in the gender field), and gave members the possibility to indicate preferred pronouns to the LHCb secretariat for communication purposes. Since then the form has had to be replaced by the standard form required by CERN. For the moment this form does not contain the non-binary gender option due to data-privacy policy. The CERN diversity office is currently working on ways to overcome this difficulty, and the LHCb ECGD office follows this closely.

In the mean time, non-binary colleagues who join LHCb are welcome, if they like, to inform the secretariat and the ECGD officers about their gender-identity and preferred pronouns. This information will not be kept in any official database or shared with anybody, and will be used for communication purposes only. You are welcome to inform your colleagues in the relevant working groups about your preferred pronouns (e.g. by including it in your email signature and zoom profile).

Practical information on how to change your recorded name and gender

For now, CERN is required by French/Swiss law to keep a record of a user's gender as stated on their official documents, but it is possible to change the name and gender that are used by CERN and LHCb.

If no new official document, with the new gender identity, has been issued

1. Phonebook: To change first name and family name for a preferred one, go on phonebook, “my profile”. Note that setting a preferred name in the phonebook automatically updates all CERN applications (Mattermost, Gitlab...) except the main CERN database (HRT/Foundation), EDH, Impact and PRT.
2. Email address change: go to this page, then click on Add a new email alias. Once you have added the new alias, you can delete the previous email address.
3. Login name: go to the CERN account management page and follow the procedure detailed on the Account Operations -> Special Operations Help page. Various webpages state that this change of login name is suspended as an option in 2023, pending IT updates, but the CERN Diversity and Inclusion team have confirmed that the login name change is still possible and remains supported as needed - including for non-binary and transgender people. (If you receive a response here that this change is not possible, the ECGD have been assured that upon 'escalation to the third level' this change will be made. The ECGD officers can and will also help here.)
4. FENCE and LHCb author list – send your request for the LHCb secretariat, and they will update the first name and the family name.
5. TWiki username – send your request to the service desk by opening a SNOW (Service Now) ticket using this web page (use the link "Create a ticket"). When opening the ticket you can set it to confidential using the relevant checkbox, to limit the amount one broadcasts the deadname/previous name.

If you have a new official document with your new gender identity

1. Upload your new identity document in the LHCb secretariat CERN box. Then the secretariat will send it to User’s Office, who will proceed with the change in the CERN database. It will be then propagated in your foundation information profile in FENCE.
2. Take the steps above that are also relevant if no new ID document has been issued.