Shige Sakurai, author of the 5-year-old mypronouns.org, goes by they/them/theirs pronouns. They see sharing pronouns as a way of getting to know someone. Knowing and using someone’s pronouns avoids accidentally assuming an incorrect gender based on a name or an appearance.
“People have the opportunity then to share how they want to be referred to,” said Sakurai, also founder of International Pronouns Day. “Learning names is important too, and learning how to pronounce them correctly is important. To me, [pronouns are] an extension of that — of your name and how you want to be referred to.”
While sharing pronouns is not new — Sakurai has seen it happen in LGBTQI+ communities for more than two decades — it is becoming more common in the United States. (LGBTQI+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people, with the “+” signifying all the gender identities and sexual orientations that are not specifically covered by the other initials.)