The following article is from our local (progressive) newspaper about a 5th Grade teacher at a local school.
It some ideas we may not be familiar with and the diversity among us.
theythemtheir
Portland Tribute - Caitilin Feldman - 8/18/15
Editor's note:
Quote:
In this story, "they," "them" and "their" have been used as singular, gender-neutral pronouns
in regard to Leo Soell. We made this decision to stay true to Soell's gender-neutral identity.
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Quote:
Transgender teacher living 'authentic' life after cancer battle
Identifying along the spectrum, outside the boxes of “male” or “female,”
means that Soell also doesn’t identify with “he” or “she.”
Soell prefers the pronoun “they,” a linguistic transition they began implementing
two years ago with close friends, and last February with the world.
During this time, they also worked with doctors at Tualatin’s Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center,
who played a vital role in their gender identity transition.
“Some people might argue, ‘Why don’t you just use “he?” It’s masculine,’” Soell said.
“But ‘they’ continuously points to the fact that the language is not inclusive.”
By definition, “they” can mean a group of people or a single person of unspecified gender,
but the language has whittled away at the latter meaning.
Using “they” as a singular pronoun sets off grammar alarms in many people’s brains,
including Soell’s, when they first begin changing pronouns.
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