Currently, there is no greater social sin than calling an “it” a “she” (or “he”).
How can a singular person argue to be called by a plural pronoun?
On Thursday, the New York Times issued a thousand-word apology for using the pronoun “she” to describe Asia Kate Dillon, an actress (Actor? … Person?). Dillon, who appears in the TV series “Orange is the New Black” and “Billions,” identifies as “non-binary” and prefers to be referred to as “they.”
The Public Editor at the Times, Liz Spayd, wrote the drawn-out apology for an op-ed that contained the clause “Asia Kate Dillon discussing her nonbinary gender.”
Spayd writes that the mistake happened because editors “were under the impression that ‘they’ could not be used as a singular pronoun,” and calls upon the Associated Press to include this new usage of “they” when issuing in their next style guide.
Dillon has been in the news recently for presenting the first non-gendered award at the MTV Movie Awards to Emma Watson, who is an actress (I am pretty sure).
Dillon is the first non-binary actor to play a non-binary character on a TV show in “Billions,” where she plays a financial genius (singular)