A huge amount of the day-to-day language we do alienates transgendered people, or, worse, mislabels them. Here are just a few alternatives to phrases that often cause trouble.

This will be extended over time but for the moment her are some examples of gender-neutral alternatives to a lot of the gendered language we use day to day.

• Sir/Madam Alternatives
  • Some descriptor of who you are writing too and why e.g Customer(s), Client(s), Householder.
  • To Whom It May Concern.
  • Dear recipient.
• Ladies and Gentlemen
  • ‘Your attention please’
  • ‘Guests’,'Honoured guests’
• He/She: there are manygender neutral pronouns, here are some examples:
  • Singular They, was in very common usage historically and is entirely natural in use within English. They is a good default if you are unsure of someone’s pronoun preference and need to refer to them as such. It’s always best to find out what someone prefers themself.
  • Spivak: E, em, eir.
  • Sie, hir.
  • Pronouns that should be avoided:
    • It.
    • He/She in combination.