NEWS | san-diego-now

“But it’s a plural pronoun . . .”

That’s what many older people, who pride themselves on their grammar, say about use of the pronouns, “they” and “them” in referring to a single person. To be honest, that’s what I thought (but did not say) the first time it came up in my life. A few years ago, I was part of a group of ACLU volunteers participating in a lobby day in Sacramento. When we signed in for our first meeting, we were asked to fill out name badges with our names and pronouns. Initially, I had to stop and think to remember what a pronoun is and next, I wondered why I was being asked. My question was soon answered when the group moderator explained that some people do not identify as being male or female notwithstanding