gender neutral terminology

Category: LGBT Discussion

Post 1 by dissonance (Help me, I'm stuck to my chair!) on Sunday, 28-Jul-2013 16:39:57

I'm straight, but I am a strong ally and advocate for GLBT rights. Self righteous homophobia and transphobia that is justified with fluffy language, whether it be Biblical or otherwise, makes me incredibly angry. That being said, I'm not aware of any gender neutral terms to use to refer to people when you don't know their identified gender. I hate using "him" and "her" presumptuously. This might be a nitpicky thing to some, but when I'm writing about people, and I do a lot of that in my job, it feels contrary to my belief system to use categorical terms. Feedback? Am I missing something, or being overly sensitive?

Post 2 by forereel (Just posting.) on Sunday, 28-Jul-2013 16:44:36

Just call them differently abled. JK Smile.

Post 3 by Shadow_Cat (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Sunday, 28-Jul-2013 20:31:29

I'd say overly sensitive. If someone wants you to use certain language for them, they can and very likely will tell you.

Post 4 by chelslicious (like it or not, I'm gonna say what I mean. all the time.) on Sunday, 28-Jul-2013 21:12:37

Alicia is right. plus, if you think about it, someone will likely always be negatively critical of something you do, say, or don't do or say, so just do what you're doing, and trust that if it's really a major issue that needs changing, you'll be told by someone.