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Grace Abels
By Grace Abels November 27, 2023

Viral video of teacher instructing students about gender pronouns is a skit, not authentic

If Your Time is short

  • This clip shows a skit created by Jibrizy, an online video creator who says he makes videos to "start discussion." 

  • The original clip has a disclaimer at the end that it is scripted, but that is edited out from the version being shared. 

  • Jibrizy’s videos depicting fake confrontations over LGBTQ+ issues have gone viral before without context.

Confrontational videos are a staple of the modern internet, whether they show a shouting match between neighbors or a parking lot fistfight.

Some influencers are tapping into this trend with manufactured conflict — skits dramatizing hot-button issues. The most recent example is a video that appears to show a self-described "gender-neutral" schoolteacher instructing students on acceptable pronoun use.

"I am not a female nor am I a male, I would be in between," the teacher said in the Nov. 20, Facebook video. "So, right here would be my pronouns."

The instructor then pointed to a chart listing multiple pronouns including ze/zir/zirs, sometimes referred to as "neopronouns." 

(Screenshot of Facebook video)

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Featured Fact-check

Off-screen, supposed students express confusion and resistance. "Why do we have to learn this?" asked one. "I’m confused," said another.

Many people and groups online, including the conservative Young America’s Foundation, shared the video as if it showed something real. The foundation’s post had the caption, "These students are just as confused as we are."

This video does not depict a real classroom confrontation. It was created as a skit.

@politifact Replying to @Jon Kelly #factcheck: This footage comes from a skit, but some social media users have been sharing it as if it was a real classroom lesson by a teacher about pronouns. We've seen fake arguments over LGBTQ+ issues trick the internet before. #viral #pronouns #lgbtq #fyp #learnontiktok ♬ Storytelling - Adriel

A comedian named Jibrizy shared the original video Oct. 2 on his Facebook page. "Hey guys," he said at the end of the eight-minute sketch, "that was all an act." He then urged viewers to share the video and discuss it with their friends to find out their thoughts on the subject.

This is not the first time Jibrizy’s videos have gone viral without context. In September, two skits, one of a confrontation on a plane and another in which a woman tears down a pride flag, went viral. Many people, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., shared the videos on X thinking they were authentic.

In his X profile, Jibrizy described his work as directing "social political video out as real life scenarios of the left and right for debate." When the flag video went viral, Jibrizy posted to clarify his role: "I create video to start discussion," he wrote. "It’s openly fake. But I want you to debate your point of view." He regularly creates skits about LGBTQ+ topics and political issues

We rate claims this video shows an authentic classroom discussion False.

Our Sources

X post, Sept. 15, 2023

X post, Sept. 20, 2023

Facebook video (archived), Nov. 20, 2023

University of North Carolina - Greensboro, "Neopronouns Explained," accessed Nov. 27, 2023

Young America’s Foundation, "About Us," accessed Nov. 27, 2023

Facebook video, Oct. 2, 2023

Facebook profile, accessed Nov. 27, 2023

PolitiFact, "Videos of LGBTQ+ arguments aren’t real. They’re from skits," Sept. 19, 2023

Facebook video, Sept. 12, 2023

Facebook video, Sept. 16, 2023Archived X post, Sept. 19, 2023

X profile, accessed Nov. 27, 2023

X post, Sept. 17, 2023

Facebook video, Oct. 11, 2023

Facebook video, Oct. 9, 2023

Facebook video, Oct. 8, 2023

Facebook video, Oct. 6, 2023

Facebook video, Oct. 3, 2023

Facebook video, Sept. 23, 2023 

Instagram post, Nov. 19, 2023

X post, Nov. 20, 2023

X post, Nov. 19, 2023

X post, Nov. 25. 2023

 

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Viral video of teacher instructing students about gender pronouns is a skit, not authentic

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