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What is Patient Zero's "pronoun policy"? What does this mean? edit
I have my own "policy" that I adhere to with regard to gender-specific pronouns, and my usage of them when interacting with other editors.
I happen to have a feature enabled on Wikipedia that allows me to see whether editors have declared their preferred pronouns in their Preferences, and if so, which gender these may correlate to; where this is not present, I will use they/them pronouns by default (unless the editor indicates their preferred pronouns elsewhere, whether this is in conversation, their signature, or somewhere else). The first usage of "they" in its singular form can be traced back to the 14th century, and even William Shakespeare used it in this way! It is not, contrary to popular belief, a new thing (nor is it "butchering the English language").
I also refrain from using "he or she" or "he/she", as not only is this unnecessarily wordy, but it is also not inclusive of those who do not identify within the gender binary. My personal pronouns are he and him, but I do not mind editors using they or them to describe me if they are unaware of this.
In the rare event that I do misgender someone, this will never be intentional. I am both a member and supporter of the LGBTQ community, and strongly condemn all homophobia and transphobia, whether on-wiki or in the real world. So if I do misgender you, please feel free to correct me. If you are uncomfortable doing this publicly, please email me and I will correct myself as soon as I can.
Thank you for taking the time to read this - feel free to link to it on your personal user pages if you are in agreement!