Award-winning singer-songwriter, Sam Smith, on Saturday 13,
shared on Instagram that they have changed their pronounces to “They and Them.”
The “Stay With Me” singer had earlier identified as a
GenderQueer – which means, they don’t have any gender.
Back in March, during an interview, Smith said, they are not
“Male or female. I think I float somewhere in between.”
“I had always been free in terms of thinking about my sexuality,” they said. Though, at the time, they decided to keep using the “he/she” pronouns.
“Maybe I’m not a man, maybe I’m not a woman, maybe I’m just me,
and that’s okay,” they said at the time.
However, all that changed with the recent social media post.
Smith shared an image on Instagram with the words boldly written:
“My Pronouns are THEY/ THEM.”
Then went further to caption it:
“Today is a good day, so here goes. I’ve decided I am changing
my pronouns to THEY/THEM after a lifetime of being at war with my gender. I’ve
decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out…
“… I understand there will be many mistakes and misgendering,
but all I ask is you please please try. I hope you can see me like I see myself
now. Thank you.”
“P.S.: I am at no stage just yet to eloquently speak at length
about what it means to be non-binary, but I can’t wait for the day that I am.
So, for now, I just want to be VISIBLE and open. If you have questions and are
wondering what this all means, I’ll try my best to explain.”
Ending the post, Smith shared a bevvy of resources for people
interested in learning more about what it means to be non-binary.
Meanwhile, Associated Press, in reporting the Sam Smith’s
announcement repeatedly misgendered them.
In their report, the publication used the male pronoun, “he”
several times in the article to refer to Sam Smith. And, as expected, the
internet is having none of it.
NLGJA at U.T. (Twitter handle: @ut_nigja) wrote:
“In the wake of Sam Smith saying they use “they/them” pronouns,
here’s a thread of how [not] to cover non-binary folks (with examples).
Starting with the @AP example, Sam Smith’s pronouns are
“They/Them”. They no longer use “he/him” pronouns. This is ignorance.”
Another twitter user, Jill (@LadyLantzAlot) said:
“@AP when you write an article that is literally about the
pronouns someone has declared for themselves, do that person a solid and
respect their pronouns.”
Interestingly, following the backlash on twitter, A.P. rewrote
the article but, this time, they removed all the personal pronouns.
“Lol the @AP ‘fixed’ their entire article about Sam Smith’s
pronouns by, you guessed it… removing all the personal pronouns from the
article rather than just using their correct pronouns,” Annie Kate with the
twitter handle @AKlipscomb observed.
However, A.P. wasn’t just the only publication that misgendered
Smith, The Sun, in its initial report about the news, also referred to the
singer using the ‘he’ pronoun.
Gender-neutral pronouns such as “they/them” is often used by
non-binary people who feel they are unable to identify as either a male or
female.
