What do ne / nim / nir pronouns mean?
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Ne / Nem / Nir is a set of gender neutral pronouns that some people and/or organisations have adopted. For example, you would say “Ne is hungry” instead of “He/She is hungry”, “Please tell nem that lunch is ready” instead of “Please tell him/her that lunch is ready”, and “This sandwich is nirs” instead of “This sandwich is his/hers”.
However, it is relatively rare to come across this set of pronouns, because of a lack of awareness, fragmentation of proposed pronouns, and the difficulty in understanding how to pronounce some of the pronouns. On the flip side, the use of the singular “they / them / theirs” as gender neutral pronouns is gaining adoption.
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The sharing or display of pronouns in the workplace, or on social media profiles, has also became increasingly common. Pronouns are not indicative of a person’s sexual orientation, so naturally, not everyone who shares or displays their pronouns identify as LGBTQ+. The reason straight, cisgender people share or display their pronouns is simple: they want to show others that they will respect everyone’s pronouns; in other words, displaying their pronouns is a way to let others know (especially LGBTQ+ folks) that they will create a safe space for any LGBTQ+ folks around them.
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