Neopronouns

Neopronouns are pronouns beyond the familiar he, she, and they, used by some non-binary, genderqueer, and gender-expansive people who feel the standard options do not fit their gender. Common sets include xe/xem, ze/hir, ey/em, and fae/faer. Some are newly coined words, while others are drawn from existing words and repurposed as personal pronouns. The category is not brand new: the Oxford English Dictionary added an entry for ze in 2018 and for hir and zir in 2019, and activists like Leslie Feinberg used ze/hir decades earlier. For the people who use them, neopronouns are a genuine expression of identity, and respecting someone's stated pronouns is a matter of basic dignity.