Pronouns are we, I, he, she, etc. When describing an individual, you use the pronouns she or he, but what if this person doesn’t identify as either? This is where “they” or “them” comes in.

The word “they” is gender neutral. Gender fluid is when a person doesn’t identify as any specific gender. This is not to be confused with someone who is gender neutral, which in when a person claims no gender.

“My gender is an always changing and flexible thing. I identify myself as neither a boy or a girl rather than just one of those genders. Occasionally, I also identify between the two,” senior grader Fallon Little stated.

“They” was the word of the year in 2015. Some people think that this is “just silly” or that people who identify with this pronoun are trying to be rebellious. I think it will help people express an identity and not feel like they are tied down by the traditional pronouns.

During the process of writing this article, I was asked, “Well, why don’t we just use “it” as a gender neutral pronoun rather than “they/them”?” Calling someone “it” without approval is basically like calling them a thing and not a person.

“Using “they/them” to describe someone in the singular isn’t grammatically correct,” a fellow geometry student said. Humans aren’t always grammatically correct. If you think that our language is always “correct,” then look at your text messages. Nowadays slang is used so much that it is being added into our dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary word of the year wasn’t even a word, it was an emoji! 

You wouldn’t want someone calling you “she” if you identified as a “he” and vice versa. Using the right pronouns is just about respect. Even though there are a lot of people who identify with this pronoun, there are still a lot of people who have no clue how to interact with people who aren’t like them. 

“Being gender fluid, to me, means happiness. It means understanding and finally belonging somewhere. It means community. It means that I finally am happy with who I am,” said a sophomore who requested to remain anonymous.