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Why should we address sam smith as a "they"

There's no logic to it and from a grammatical perspective whilst it can be a singular it is still incompatible with many phrases eg "he has" "they has" etc. It's stupid and regardless of your views, there are two biological sexes, and in reality only two genders, although you can identify with whatever gender you want, male or female

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Reply 1
Ever heard the phrase 'they have'?

Mindblowing, I know
I wont be addressing sam smith as anything because hes rubbish
Original post by gjd800
Ever heard the phrase 'they have'?

Mindblowing, I know

yes but they is generally plural although you can use that phrase yes. but it still doesnt make sense with they being a subsitute as to him or her
Reply 4
Original post by Ferrograd
yes but they is generally plural although you can use that phrase yes. but it still doesnt make sense with they being a subsitute as to him or her

Makes sense to Sam Smith

'They' has been used in the singular since Shakespeare and Chaucer. It's not a new thing
Original post by gjd800
Makes sense to Sam Smith

'They' has been used in the singular since Shakespeare and Chaucer. It's not a new thing

not as a subsitute to him or her in that context
Original post by Ferrograd
There's no logic to it and from a grammatical perspective whilst it can be a singular it is still incompatible with many phrases eg "he has" "they has" etc. It's stupid and regardless of your views, there are two biological sexes, and in reality only two genders, although you can identify with whatever gender you want, male or female


Would rep but I’ve already repped your other post. Agree 100%. In my native language this concept doesn’t exist
Reply 7
Original post by Ferrograd
not as a subsitute to him or her in that context

In place of 'his', so minor difference in application

Language is not absolute, and singular 'they' has a long heritage

Ultimately it boils down to not being a wee ****e about things. Someone asks ye to make a minor change when addressing them, you say 'no' why exactly? Why not just do it and be nice
Regardless of whether it makes grammatical sense or aligns with your own views on gender and sex, you should call them that anyways as it’s what they’re comfortable with. It’s just minimal human decency to address someone by the pronouns they identity as.
Original post by itselliemcd
Regardless of whether it makes grammatical sense or aligns with your own views on gender and sex, you should call them that anyways as it’s what they’re comfortable with. It’s just minimal human decency to address someone by the pronouns they identity as.


I don't get how you can not associate with one of the two genders. If he identifies as a female, maybe he should change his gender, and he's already gay.
Reply 10
Original post by Ferrograd
I don't get how you can not associate with one of the two genders. If he identifies as a female, maybe he should change his gender, and he's already gay.

What has being gay got to do with anything?
Reply 11
Original post by Ferrograd
I don't get how you can not associate with one of the two genders. If he identifies as a female, maybe he should change his gender, and he's already gay.

I don't get how people can support Everton or enjoy mangos, but such is life
Because he has requested politely.

This is way bigger than what is grammatically correct! This is a person’s gender identity.

For someone like Sam Smith to admit that he identifies as non-binary is huge. He has a massive following and is open to a lot of criticism. Imagine struggling with something tour entire life and knowing people will ridicule you for it, even though it doesn’t effect them in any way whatsoever. It saddens me to see all the hate. Have you ever thought of the young people who may look up to him as an inspiration and thought they may be able to come out as non-binary are seeing all this hate and think they’ll never be accepted. This is part of the reason why the lgbtq+ community has one of the highest self harm and suicide rates... and because of what... grammar. Please think of other people’s feeling before you post something so insensitive.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by Lkathryn08
This is way bigger than what is grammatically correct! This is a person’s gender identity.

For someone like Sam Smith to admit that he identifies as non-binary is huge. He has a massive following and is open to a lot of criticism. Imagine struggling with something tour entire life and knowing people will ridicule you for it, even though it doesn’t effect them in any way whatsoever. It saddens me to see all the hate. Have you ever thought of the young people who may look up to him as an inspiration and thought they may be able to come out as non-binary are seeing all this hate and think they’ll never be accepted. This is part of the reason why the lgbtq+ community has one of the highest self harm and suicide rates... and because of what... grammar. Please think of other people’s feeling before you post something so insensitive.

I understand that sex is different from gender, but i do not understand NB. Let's think of logic and reason ahead of people's emotiosn here for a sec. Sam smith is doing this to radicalise his followers into adopting this false NB identity. Most gays dislike transgenders and NB. Can you actually explain what NB is, because from a biological perspective, you are male or female
Original post by JamesManc
I wont be addressing sam smith as anything because hes rubbish

Lol same . I don't even like his songs ..:colonhash:
Reply 15
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex

It's not even true that sex is a totally binary thing, so why would you expect gender to be totally binary?

Regardless, it hurts absolutely nobody to use someone's preferred pronouns, and there is no grammatical issue.
I 100% agree. It’s just not logical to be called they/them all the time.
Original post by math42
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex

It's not even true that sex is a totally binary thing, so why would you expect gender to be totally binary?

Regardless, it hurts absolutely nobody to use someone's preferred pronouns, and there is no grammatical issue.

Not true. If someone called me a girl, when I was clearly a boy, I would find it odd rather than hurtful.
Original post by Ferrograd
I understand that sex is different from gender, but i do not understand NB. Let's think of logic and reason ahead of people's emotiosn here for a sec. Sam smith is doing this to radicalise his followers into adopting this false NB identity. Most gays dislike transgenders and NB. Can you actually explain what NB is, because from a biological perspective, you are male or female

There is logic and reason that we might not all fit into the box of ‘male’ and ‘female’ and radicalising people... really? Trans, gay and NB and all LGBTQ+ and all deserve the same respect. Also how can you say it is false. You don’t know them or how they feel. Without being inside their own head and understanding their thoughts and feelings you can’t deny them of their non-binary identity! Just because you don’t feel a certain way or don’t understand doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Would you deny depression exists because some people will never experience it and won’t be able to identify what feeling depressed is like?
Non-binary is not identifying as a particular gender, that’s it and what is so wrong and unacceptable about that?
(edited 4 years ago)
*shrug* they asked nicely, I have no reason to refuse, I of course retain the ability to call anything anything at will.