Language that liberates: 10 practical tips for LGBTQIA+ inclusive language
“This is Taylor. Taylor’s chosen pronouns are (long pause)... they/them. Taylor will now speak about (even longer pause)... their experiences as a trans person in journalism.”
A while ago, I went to a diversity and inclusion forum. The chair kept whispering, “and what are your… chosen pronouns?” as though probing for shameful secrets.
They were trying to be inclusive, but they missed the mark. It got me thinking. What does
LGBTQIA+ inclusive language actually look like?
So I asked activists, writers and content creators what LGBTQIA+ inclusive writing looks like to them, and I reflected on my own experiences.
Why LGBTQIA+ inclusive language matters
Language reflects and reveals power structures.
“The bad news is that your language probably reflects the transphobic values of the culture you live in” says Lal Zimman. “But the good news is that changing your language can also help to change those cultural values.”
So let’s start with our words. Here are 10 practical tips to make your language more LGBTQIA+ inclusive.
The Future is Inclusive by Andreea Iuliana, as part of the Reimagining Human Rights project shared under the Creative Commons licence.
1. Challenge cis-heteronormativity
We aren’t all heterosexual.
We aren’t all cisgender.
We aren’t all CisHet (cisgender and heterosexual).
But we often talk as though it's the only “normal” identity. One way we make CisHet seem “normal”? By not naming it.
Redefine normal
“If someone begins their story with ‘I saw this person the other day’, chances are that hearers of that story will most often understand this unmarked person to be a middle class White man until further specified” says Scott Kiesling.
“Silence about heterosexual identity maintains its ‘normal’ and ‘natural’ status” according to Louisa Allen.
So we don’t know how many people are actually LGBTQIA+.
Like left-handedness, it may look as though people are CisHet when actually they’re being silenced.
Break the silence
It’s just as important to name an identity when it’s a dominant one.
That could be as simple as saying: “he’s a heterosexual cis man.”
Avoid euphemisms
We tend to use euphemisms about topics that are seen as shameful, harmful or unclean. But there’s nothing bad about being LGBTQIA+.
Euphemisms, like “batting for the other team”, can stoke stigma.
Use clear, affirmative terms instead.
Saying “he’s gay” or “she’s a lesbian” isn’t rude. It’s accurate.
Make it easy to come out
Heterosexual people don’t usually have to “come out.”
But people that aren’t cis, or aren’t heterosexual, are constantly expected to “come out.” It can be stressful, dangerous and even life-threatening in some settings.
How can you save people the stress of needing to come out, or make sure they don’t have to do it so often?
Try small changes like:
Including pronouns in your email signature,
Removing gendered titles or salutations (like Mr, Ms, Miss or Mrs)
Avoiding gendered boxes on forms.
This makes it easier in two ways:
People aren’t constantly assumed to be CisHet so they don’t have to come out all the time.
If they do want to change your pronouns, there’s a process they can use.
Don’t expect people to be out
Make it easy for people to come out if they want to. But don’t expect anyone to.
You can be out with one person, or one group, and not with others.
Being out is a choice. It’s not safe for everyone.
Not everyone is heterosexual
“ Don’t assume heterosexuality” says Jon Cornejo, anti-racism consultant and activist. “Use gender neutral terms like ‘partner’ or ‘spouse’ instead of assuming everyone is straight, it is then that person’s choice if they tell you the gender of their partner or not.”
If you don’t know someone’s sexuality or gender, use standard, gender neutral words. You don’t need to pause, whisper or panic. Just act normal.
✅ You could say: partner, spouse in a relationship with, dating, living with.
It’s good to do this whether someone is cis, trans, non-binary, heterosexual, pansexual, or almost any other identity.
Avoid astonishment
Sometimes people gasp, drop their voice to a whisper, or dramatically change their tone when they realise someone’s queer.
Of course, you may be surprised. But acting astonished can be harmful. It could signal:
Stereotyping. Why is this so shocking? Do they think that all trans people dress the same way, talk the same way, or have the same name?
Shame. If you’re staggered you didn’t spot someone’s identity, it suggests it’s a problem. Sometimes, people express this as “you don’t look gay”, “you’re too pretty to be a lesbian” or “I don’t see you as [gender/sexual orientation].”
Let’s dig into that saying: “Don’t worry, I don’t see you as [identity].”
Hannah Radenkova writes:
“But “Don’t worry, I don’t see you as…” never ends with a positive statement. The most common way of ending that sentence is with something negative. “Lazy,” “stupid,” “bossy,” “weak,” whatever it is. It’s said to reassure someone they’re not something bad. It’s a statement of commiseration. And even if the person saying it loves the disabled person, they’re still saying they think negatively of the disabled community at large.”
So relax. Try not to sound stunned. Your colleague’s gender or orientation isn’t the most interesting thing about them.
Question “straight”
Heteronormativity is the idea that everyone is, or should be, heterosexual. And the word “straight” could reinforce that idea.
“Straight’s antonyms include bent, crooked, warped – hardly helpful to any lesbian, gay or bisexual young people wanting to maintain their self-respect whilst navigating their emerging sexuality” writes Jonathan Charlesworth.
Consider saying heterosexual instead.
MAKE LGBTQIA+ people VISIBLE
Whether you’re making a slide deck or writing an article, remember to include people from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
Miss the flag clichés and the weird overuse of symbols instead of real humans.
Look for images of queer families, transmasculine people, transfeminine people, drag queens, drag kings, butch/femme presenting lesbians, androgynous or gender ambiguous people, disabled people, people with facial differences, queer people of colour, people… I think you get the point.
Because visibility matters. (And why let so much beauty go to waste?)
Check out stock imagery sites like:
Blush illustrations.
The Gender Spectrum Collection, by Vice.
Getty Images x GLAAD’s LGBTQ+ guidebook.
Stocksy’s LGTBTQIA+ Pride collection.
Alex Bayley’s directory of diverse and inclusive stock image sites.
Pexels (look for stereotype-defying themes like male housekeeper and female construction worker)
The Togetherness by Vanessa Mundle, as part of the Reimagining Human Rights project shared under the Creative Commons licence.
2. Be accurate
LGBTQIA+ is an umbrella term. It describes a massive spectrum of different genders, orientations and identities.
Our gender identity, gender expression, gender presentation, sexual orientation, romantic orientation and biological sex affect where we are on that spectrum.
If you’re talking about all LGBTQIA+ people, then say LGBTQIA+. If you’re talking about a specific group, like asexual people, then say that.
We don’t expect all CisHet people to be the same. Let queer people be as nuanced, varied and distinct as CisHet people get to be.
Avoid generalisations (look out for words like always, never, most, every).
Watch out for microaggressions
There’s nothing micro about microaggressions.
They convey harm, and they’re also just inaccurate. Let’s look at a few common ones:
“Identify as”
Trans women are women. Trans men are men.
If you say “this event is open to women and people who identify as women”, you’re suggesting trans women aren’t really women.
Instead, you could say: “this event is open to anyone who identifies as a woman” or “open to all women (which obviously includes trans women).”
“Lifestyle”
Just as there’s no gay agenda, there’s no gay lifestyle.
If you wouldn’t talk about a “CisHet lifestyle”, don’t say it about queer people.
“Chosen” pronouns
Pronouns aren’t “preferred” or “chosen.” They’re just your pronouns.
“Uses pronouns they/them”
“Reporters never write a sentence to explain a cis source’s pronouns” notes the TJA Trans Style Guide. “For example: “Jill, who uses she/her pronouns, attended the event.” If we don’t emphasise cis people’s pronouns, we shouldn’t need to explain trans people’s pronouns — especially when they are common pronouns like he, she, and they.”
(Ettie, who uses she/her pronouns, said she agreed.)
If someone uses less common pronouns (like ze, ve or ne), you can quickly explain that. For example, later on, I quote Alex Kapitan, who uses ze/per pronouns.
Orientation, not preference
Talking about people’s “sexual preferences” can be seriously other-ing.
It’s not like preferring tea one week, coffee the next. Sexual and romantic orientations are enduring patterns, not passing preferences.
Name the -ism
People aren’t marginalised by accident.
Trans and gender non-conforming people face appalling violence.
1 in 5 queer people has experienced a hate crime.
Trans young people face discrimination and poor mental health.
The problem isn’t LGBTQIA+ people. It’s the systems that oppress, exclude, marginalise and silence us. So let’s name them.
Cissexism is the system of policies, practices and beliefs that privileges cisgender people, and harms trans people.
Heterosexism is the system of policies, practices and beliefs that privileges heterosexual people, and harms people with other orientations.
We often call them “homophobia” and “transphobia.”
“The word "homophobia," when broken down, roughly means being scared of homosexuals” writes Rebecca Harrington. That’s not accurate.
As Gregory Herek says, homophobia “implies an un-dimensional construct of attitudes as expressions of irrational fears.” Herek argues we should talk about sexual stigma, heterosexism and sexual prejudice instead.
“Someone suffering from arachnophobia does not typically harm or kill spiders because they are too frightened of them” writes Mark Baer. “For that same reason, a person who suffers from ophiophobia does not typically harm or kill snakes. There is a huge difference between hate and fear.”
Consider calling it cissexism (not transphobia) and heterosexism (not homophobia).
Don’t over-define people
The LGTBQIA+ spectrum is vast. If we name every part of someone’s identity, are we fixating on difference? What if we drown people in labels, and lose the person underneath?
“If you're tying yourself up in knots wondering how to get it right” says Jody Elphick, former Head of Brand and Content at Callaly, “You could try taking a step back and keeping it simple instead. You really can't go wrong with "people"!”
You Don't Have To Justify Your Identity To Anyone by Cailey Tervo, as part of the Reimagining Human Rights project shared under the Creative Commons licence.
3. Get comfortable with pronouns
Confused by pronouns? You might be over-thinking it. You already know how to ask for and remember pronouns. Because pronouns are a lot like names.
As Lal Zimman says:
You can’t tell what a person’s name is just from looking at them.
If you want to know someone’s name, you have to ask.
Names are treated as facts.
We know there are many names in the world that we’ve never even heard of.
People don’t insist there are only two (or two hundred, or even two thousand) names.
It’s important to remember someone’s name, even if it’s unusual, even if you don’t like it, and even if you don’t like them.
People sometimes change their names.
Messing up occasionally isn’t the worst thing in the world, as long as it’s handled well.
Pronouns aren’t a silver bullet
Pronoun go-rounds alone won't liberate us.
For Jen Manion, saying a pronoun felt like being put inside a box.
They can be performative. They can trick us into thinking we’ve done the work of creating an inclusive culture (when we’ve only just started).
Adjust your mindset
If you practice pronoun go-rounds so you can categorise people, then keep them locked in a gendered box (“Ash is ‘he’ and that’s all I need to know about him”), then you’re stuck in binary thinking.
“The thing about the pronoun go-round is that it is not meant to and cannot take care of all the many complex problems of judgment, identity, and anxiety that exist around our complex lives and our political movements” writes Dean Spade. “It is merely an attempt to create a practice of not assuming we know what someone goes by just by looking at them.”
Make pronoun disclosure optional
“There is an important group of people for whom sharing pronouns is an unwanted and uncomfortable disclosure: those who are questioning their gender, early in transition, and/or not yet ready to disclose their gender pronouns to a large group of strangers” – Oliver Haimson.
“Pronoun go-rounds can still happen, [they] just should not be mandatory in these settings: write Oliver L. Haimson and Lee Airton.
Share your pronouns
If you’re comfortable sharing your pronouns, do it all the time.
Put your pronouns in your social media bio,
Put them in your email signature (you can link to pronouns.org to explain why).
Say your pronouns when you meet people.
Being “out” is a choice. It’s not safe for everyone, so give people the option to share their pronouns if they want to.
Lead with yours. If other people are happy to share, they can.
Let people change
If someone tells you their pronouns (or anything else about their identity):
Listen without challenging them (“but you look so masculine, are you sure?”)
Remember what they said.
Don’t expect them to stay the same forever.
People aren’t static. They can update their pronouns, orientation, gender whenever they like.
Try not to be dismayed if they change; feel honoured they told you.
Keep learning about pronouns
Check out Mel Wood’s article on how not to be weird about pronouns, and Lal Zimman’s phenomenally detailed FAQ on pronouns and trans people.
Equal in Love by Linoca Souza, as part of the Reimagining Human Rights project shared under the Creative Commons licence.
4. Ask people
“I’m confused” said Ryan* in a recent workshop. “We’re meant to use gender neutral language, and not assume anything about people. But then we’re also meant to remember people’s pronouns and use them. But isn’t that gendering them? When is it harmful to gender people, and when is it helpful?”
In general, it’s good not to gender people.
✅ Partners, spouses, people, colleagues.
❌ Girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives, ladies and gentlemen.
It stops us misgendering people.
It helps tackle sexist bias (“the pilot is making their checks”, not “his” checks).
And it can even help people with unusual names, like Dáithí.
“I’m Dáithí and my wife’s Dearbhail. People outside Ireland often think I’m a woman and she’s a man. Since it became normal to share your pronouns at work, we don’t have to correct people as often.”
Mirror people’s words
But sometimes, we should gender people because it affirms them.
When we mirror people’s words, we’re saying: “I see you.”
If you don’t know someone’s gender, you could just say “the person in the green shirt.”
✅ If that person then tells you “I’m a woman” or “my pronouns are she/her”, affirm them by using that language. If you don’t, you’re misgendering them.
❓If you don’t know the gender of someone’s partner, you could just call them their partner.
✅ But if they tell you (by talking about their husband, or correcting you: “Actually, I have a husband”), then mirror them.
❓If you’re tagging someone on a social media platform, like LinkedIn, don’t try to guess their pronouns. Use singular “they”, or their name until you know.
✅ If they display their pronouns on that platform (for example, in their LinkedIn name or on the pronoun section), then use them. Affirm them.
Watch out for slur words
Mirroring people can affirm them. But there are some exceptions.
Queer, for example, is a reclaimed slur word. Slur terms cause real harm. For some people, reclaiming a slur feels wrong. For me - and many other queer people - calling myself queer is a celebration.
For a detailed exploration of the meaning and politics of queerness, check out What’s in a word: queer, by Alex Kapitan, the Radical Copyeditor.
If you’re not sure whether you can say a word with an oppressive past - like saying dyke if you’re not a lesbian - I’d suggest avoiding it.
But do your own research. There are tons of great guides out there, if you spend a few minutes exploring them. Check out the resources section at the end of this article.
Nothing about us, without us
People can tell their own stories.
We can share their stories, amplify them, or add in context. But we don’t normally need to talk for – or over – anyone. Especially not people with marginalised identities.
Include people
If you do need to write about people, make them a part of your storytelling process.
We Need to Talk About Vulvas is a great example of inclusive storytelling. I asked Jody Elphick, Head of Brand and Content at Callaly, how they did it.
A display of plaster casts of different people’s vulvas, painted in colours including navy blue, light pink, crimson, yellow white and gold. Each vulva is different. Some are smaller, larger, more or less symmetrical. Some are hairier, others are less hairy. Some have large labia majora and hardly visible labia minora.
Treat contributors as experts
“We have detailed conversations with our contributors before we make anything, checking how the idea might land and asking how we could push things further, be more useful.”
Let people choose how they’re represented
“We used people's own words to tell their stories, we checked in regularly to make sure they were comfortable and felt accurately represented, and we commissioned them to write expert guides that might help other people in a similar situation.”
See inclusion as standard
“Inclusivity really comes down to consideration, thoughtfulness, smartness, good manners - all stuff you want to be doing anyway.”
As Jody says, respecting people’s right to tell their own stories isn’t a nice “inclusion” add-on. It’s essential. If you care about engaging, accurate writing with stories at its core, then you care about inclusive writing.
Check important details
If you’re writing about somebody, check important details about them – from their pronouns or title, to how they spell their name.
“If you didn't know someone’s age or title, you would just ask them to confirm,” says freelance journalist Harron Walker. “It's the same thing.”
It’s better to ask than to guess and get it wrong.
Equally Loved by Nastya Varlamova, as part of the Reimagining Human Rights project shared under the Creative Commons licence.
5. Think intersectionally
Our gender identities and sexualities intersect with other oppressed identities. LGBTQIA+ people are poor, disabled, people of colour, survivors and more.
That includes people who are relatively privileged, like me, a cis, White, queer woman, and people who are at risk of horrifying violence.
Black, trans women in the US, for example, are thought to be at least seven times more likely to be be murdered than the general population.
“There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” ― Audre Lorde
We don’t experience the world in the same way. Our language must reflect that.
We need to not only name the harms - like horrific violence against trans and gender non conforming people - but also uplift the people and groups who are fighting them.
Support groups and events like UK Black Pride.
Learn direct from marginalised folks
“Folks should follow LGBTQI+ people with multiple marginalised identities” says Brenna Miairia Kutch.
“There are so many amazing perspectives that are missed because they are too far from the mainstream of who is acceptably queer. Follow disabled trans people of colour, fat queer Muslim elders, etc.”
Check out this list of LGBTQIA+ content creators you can follow.
We don’t need to fetishise them, or assume they can only talk about LGBTQIA+ issues. They’re real people, too. They talk about food and fashion, not “just” their identities.
Learn about trans rights from trans people.
Learn about gay rights from gay people.
Learn about disability justice and heterosexism from disabled, queer people.
Celebrate Black and brown queer history
Sometimes it feels like Pride is only for White, abled, middle class gay men.
As M. J. Murphy writes, the mythology of Pride emerging from the Stonewall Riots is “a story created and syndicated by middle-class White gay men to serve middle-class White gay men’s interests.”
Our stories about Pride could just as easily begin with the Harlem Renaissance (if not for anti-Black racism) or the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot (if not for cissexism).
Celebrate Black and brown activists from the past and present, like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Stormé DeLarverie, Lady Phyll or Miss Major Griffin-Gracy.
Don’t weaponise LGBTQ+ rights
“Here in Western democracies, we value LGBTQIA+ people’s rights. Not like countries in the global south.”
This might sound progressive, but it’s rainbow-flavoured racism.
Positioning LGBTQIA+ rights as a Western phenomenon plays into racism, colonialism, anti-Islam, and more.
Understand the role of empire
Gender beyond the binary isn’t new, and it’s not uniquely Western.
“Transgender people have existed across cultures and throughout history” say GLAAD. “What is new is the heightened awareness of gender diversity and the transgender community because of increased media attention in recent years.”
“Colonization oppressed gender and sexual minorities” says Brenna Miairia Kutch. “These are often treated as new-fangled "Western" identities but they are far older and more diverse. Unfortunately the reason there is so much violence and discrimination against LGBTQI+ people today is largely because colonisers created, enforced, and propagated these beliefs to oppress others for their own benefit.”
There’s the Chibados in what’s now Angola, kinnar/khwaja sira/hijra in South Asia, travesti in Latin America, māhū in Hawai’i and Tahiti, Two-Spirit among Indigenous communities in North America, and burrnesha in the Balkans.
There is so much gender diversity, and so much queer identity, around the world. Learn about it.
A wonderful place to start is Dr Eric Cervini’s Queer History 101 email bulletin.
6. Break the binary
Many of us were raised in a gender binary obsessed culture. It takes time to unlearn it.
Start with simple swaps, like these:
Avoid
Ladies and gentlemen
Men and women
Mothers and fathers
Husbands and wives
Girls and boys
Favour
Everyone, folks, colleagues, all of us, everybody
People, everyone, people of all genders
Parents, caregivers
Partners, spouses
Young people, kids, children, students.
Use singular they
“Someone called for you.”
“Did you get their name?”
"No, they didn’t say.”
This made sense, didn’t it? That’s because you already know how singular they works.
It’s not new. It’s been around since the 1300s.
Singular they helps us:
break the gender binary (“the person over there, they asked me a question”),
avoid bias (“the doctor will see their patients now”)
Many style guides still don’t accept singular they, but it’s perfectly good grammar.
Ask your work or school to update their style guide!
7. Take real action
You can’t just slap a rainbow logo on your brand and call yourself an ally.
Ally is a verb.
Pay experts
If you’d pay a counsellor to talk to your team about self care, pay a queer person to talk to your team during Pride month.
Give to LGBTQIA+ causes
If you can, consider donating to LGBTQIA+ charities.
Akt
African Rainbow Family
Black Trans Advocacy Coalition
Black Trans Foundation
GLAAD
Kaleidoscope Trust
Mermaids
The Outside Project
Time To Be Out
Stonewall
The Trevor Project
A one-off donation for Pride month or trans awareness day is great.
But if you can, consider giving a regular donation. It helps organisations plan and deliver long term work.
Do the work
Resist the urge to ask marginalised people “How do I do the work? What books should I read?” Just start doing the work, or reading the books.
You could team up with your more privileged friends or colleagues. Together, you can Google the reading lists. Search for the content creators. Set up that book club. Plan how you’ll rewrite your work policies, or update the style guide.
The information is out there. You can find it.
Check out the resources list at the end of this article!
Celebrate LGBTQIA+ people
“Celebrate queer identities and history throughout the year, not just in June” says Jon Cornejo, anti-racism consultant and activist. “Organisations and movements scramble for pride messages in June but often do little for the community the rest of the year”
Every month:
Celebrate, credit and pay LGBTQIA+ people for their work.
Honour and affirm people’s identities. Celebrate trans women on International Women’s Day, or trans girls on International Day of the Girl.
Don’t take the focus away from someone’s achievements by fixating on their identity (for example, saying “trans artist” or “gay model” when it’s not relevant).
Share what you learn
When you learn how to be more inclusive, pass it on.
If someone uses a harmful word, you could say:
“I noticed you said [harmful word]. I also used to say that. Here’s what I’ve learned.”
If someone misgenders someone, you could say:
"I noticed you called Taylor her, just so you know, Taylor's pronouns are ‘they/them’.”
If it’s safe for you, call someone out.
Model accountability
We all make mistakes. If you say the wrong thing, it’s often enough to:
Thank the person who corrected you.
Try not to make it all about you with a massive, theatrical apology.
Say sorry. Mean it.
Focus on not making the same mistake again.
A slip of the tongue may not need a big apology.
But some mistakes are more harmful than others, like deadnaming. If you’re serious about liberation, read up on proactive accountability.
If someone else gets it wrong:
Don’t expect minoritised people to correct everyone else. It’s not always safe to do, and frankly, they’re exhausted.
Try to call them in, not out. (Much of the debate about calling in versus calling out is an unhelpful distraction from the real issue. But calling in often gets better results).
Change the culture
Changing the name of a group, or the eligibility for an award, won’t automatically make it inclusive. You need to look at the deeper culture, systems and processes.
As Alex Kapitan says:
“If you’re part of a group, school, clinic, etc. that has historically been women-only and you want to be more inclusive, be sure to consider […] whether your group, school, clinic, etc. is fully prepared to welcome and include all of those folks as part of any change in language.
“It’s not accurate to say you include non-binary people and then continue to assume that everyone who comes through the doors uses she/her pronouns.”
Welcoming people in with your words, then continuing to harass and undermine them when they get there, could be even worse than excluding them in the first place.
Be there when it matters
As Christen Flack Behzadi writes (talking about social justice more generally). “Be ready for the hard stuff. Not just the ‘celebration month.’ Be ready when inequities happen. Learn how to speak up when you see inequities.”
Use your privilege
I’m self-employed, so I can speak out without fear of being fired. I’m White, so nobody accuses me of being an “angry Black woman.”
What privileges do you have, and how can you use them constructively?
9. Put people before rules
“Care more about people than about words or rules” - Alex Kapitan
I know, I know. I’ve just given you a list of tips to try. It looks like a rule book. But the truth is, there are no rules.
LGBTQIA+ people don’t all agree on who can say queer. That’s okay.
LGBTQIA+ people don’t use pronouns the same way. That’s okay.
LGBTQIA+ people are all different. That’s okay.
Instead of trying to lock people into categories, we need to:
Ask people
Use the words people want us to use.
Be open
Learning to think and speak outside the gender binary will be uncomfortable. Lean into that discomfort.
Stay flexible
Let people change. Let your content go out of date. Let words evolve.
As Alex Kapitan beautifully says:
“Let’s honour the complexity and diversity of language. Rather than yearning for a single linguistic box or set of labels that will work for everyone, let’s be curious and joyful—and perhaps even gender defiant, gender noncompliant, or gender fabulous—in the abundance of words at our disposal, and use them well.”
10. Know that language evolves
We invent new words, abandon, revive and reclaim old ones all the time. They morph into slang, spill into the mainstream or ossify into jargon.
Look how far the word “woke” has travelled, from a Black liberation watchword to rightwing dog whistle. “BAME” was once widely used, and is now widely questioned. “Queer” was a slur term before some people reclaimed it.
This isn’t unique to liberation movements. Language is literally always changing.
Telling yourself “I can’t be LGBTQIA+ inclusive because I can’t keep up with these language changes” is like saying “I can’t speak English, because I can’t keep up with the way grammar, syntax, spelling and vocabulary change over time.”
Embrace it. We need new words, new phrases and new meanings, so we can imagine a new world.
🌿 Resources
Check out language guides from groups like Stonewall, GLAAD and Purple Rain Collective.
Queer History 101
An email bulletin about queer history, by Dr Eric Cervini.
Gender 101, revisited
The amazing Gender Reveal podcast digs into “what the heck gender is.”
How to not be weird about pronouns
How to say your pronouns, ask other people for them, and when not to ask.
How journalists can improve their coverage of the trans community
Simple but powerful tips to transform writing about trans people into writing with and for trans people.
TJA Style Guide
Another excellent guide for journalists.
I heart singular they
A love letter to singular they.
FAQ about pronouns and trans people
An impressively detailed guide from sociolinguist Lal Zimman.
Breaking through the binary: gender explained using continuums
An explainer about gender by Sam Killerman.
The ABCs of LGBTQIA+
A language guide from the New York Times.
What’s the best way to refer to everyone who isn’t cis?
A detailed explainer from the brilliant Radical Copyeditor, Alex Kapitan.
And for some thoughts on how to de-centre dominant cultural groups, check out this two-part article I wrote:
Part 1 - Want to be more inclusive? You need anti-oppressive content.
Part 2 - How to create anti-oppressive content.