A headline caught my eye the other day, along the lines of: [Insert name here] wanted to use the pronoun 'they' when referring to themself.
Okay; I understand that there are people who are in search of an identity, or have established an identity outside of traditional societal norms; and they are uncomfortable being referred to as 'he' or 'she', 'him' or 'her'. I totally get that. I am one-hundred-percent supportive.
However, I think that the term is being used incorrectly.
The English verb "to be" is conjugated in a variety of ways, depending upon the subject of the sentence.
When referring to more than one person, we say "They are..." We do this because 'they' is a plural pronoun.
When referring to a single person we say "He/She is..." We do this because 'he/she' is a singular pronoun.
When referring to a person of undeclared gender, we should be saying "They is..." We would do this because 'they', in this instance, is being used as a singular pronoun.
So: they is, they was.
The form "they are" should only be used to refer to more than one person.
Now I'll sit by to catch shit from everybody who thinks I'm insensitive, anti-gender-fluidity, or splitting hairs.
