Let's come up with some gender neutral terms

[Sevan]

Yep!

[Mx.Fox]

Ive heard bothfriend before and kinda like it.

[Sevan]

bothfriend is kinda cool! I also like Mx. That works better than Mz which just seems so much like Ms.

[AdamMLP]

If I can put my two cents in on the 'ze' pronoun... every time I see it in a sentence I automatically read it in a stereotypical French accent without meaning to    Personally I'd use 'per' if I was andro myself, but that's just me.

[espo]

I think we should go back to the thee and thou days, like instead of says she or he, why not just use thou for both genders.
Like this...."  I phone Sevan and thee was busy so thou partner picked up instead. "

I did that at work a few times and holy crap the blank looks you get back are hilarious. 

[cynthialee]

thee, thou and don't forget thine

[runalan]

I suppose everyone is a bit mixed-up, but androgynes like us cant help being a bit more mixed up than others. Especially for me working in a pub, because when I'm behind the bar I'm a barmaid, but when I go down to the cellar to change barrels, I'm a cellarman.  I suppose I could also be a barman - the word is in use, but who has ever heard of a cellargirl?
Gender neutral terms? I cant think of any, Barperson or cellarperson are both absurd. Let's just leave it as it is. Anyway, I'm mainly a barmaid, and as so many other have reported here, I can sometimes see people having doubts about the matter, but it doesnt worry me.

[Padma]

It makes me giggle that in line with PC-ness, my friends who take turns being chairmen and chairwomen of charities are now known simply as The Chair . Given the tempers on one or two of them, I'm inclined to think of then as The Siege Perilous...

[grrl1nside]

This is a really great topic. I'm mtf and the issue here has been a daunting one for me as well. I'm married with 2 children and being called "dad" makes my skin crawl. On the other hand, mum/mom has already been well claimed and I'm really trying hard to find a word that doesn't challenge my wife's role and attachment to being mom. She had the title first and I value you her ability to feel comfortable. We are working through it but I've been trying to find ways around the mom/dad title mess. Part of the problem is that what sounds good now, will sound too much like father or mother when I become a grand- something down the road. Some of the words, I've pondered. Not sure if any of them are helpful. I'm curious if any of them would work for all or if anyone prefers something better than others. Thankfully, one child is 4 the other is a newborn so there is hope on getting the title change to work!

For the longest time, I tried Popsicle. Two legs and something sweet but then grandpa came over and became papa which became a nightmare.

Not all of these are truly gender neutral, but you`ll see the mental hoolihoops I`ve been doing... I have a much longer list than below believe it or not!

Par - (add the grand in front... And sounds like Pa with a speech impediment) Parent (maybe could go with Pare sort of sounds like the fruit pear)
Feda- (sounds like a cheese and add grand in front)... Female Dad
Mops- Mom plus Pops
Poms- Pops plus Mom
Dammy- Daddy plus Mommy. Ummm... No... Just No...
Maddy- Mommy plus Daddy becomes a first name
DaF- Dad plus Female. Solves the grand- problem but will it generate a whole bunch of other issues while I transition in a small town. Hmmm... Might raise lots of attention early and then none later... Would also work as Daffy for me, I suppose...
Malom- Male mom (I think Feda works better than this one)
Mad- Mom and dad (probably where I'll end up by the end of this message)
Demme or Dem- Dad plus Femme (seems to work with the grand problem)
Dommy- Yes, daddy plus Mommy mixed with whips and a few other assorted accoutrements.

At this rate, I might try to convince my child to go with Scooby as in Doo...

[Padma]

Have you asked your kids what they'd like to call you, if it's not dad? You'll be fighting a losing battle if it's not something they like themselves .

[grrl1nside]

Absolutely. This is a family conversation in the works and the kids are the deciders and co-creators.  I still think it would be nice to have a few other options available for them rather than just Dad as examples to help them... We are very happy for them to be creative too and come up with something wonderful...

[Shantel]

This is a really great topic. I'm mtf and the issue here has been a daunting one for me as well. I'm married with 2 children and being called "dad" makes my skin crawl.

I know a great looking, very sweet m2f surgeon who is well known and specializes in SRS. I won't use her name here out of decency and common sense. Although she is divorced, she does come into town for the holidays and visit the former spouse and kids. Those kids call her "dad" although in the wildest stretch of my imagination the handle doesn't fit. She isn't phased by it in any way because to those kids she is and always will be "dad" and she loves them dearly and won't let her stuff take that away from them. As for me, my granddaughter is going through puberty and has stayed overnight with us on many occasions. She has sat at the breakfast table with me in my PJ bottoms and tank top and boobs poking out all quivery and nipples showing and it doesn't phase her in the least as I am and always will be her beloved grandpa in spite of myself.

[Kinkly]

I've heard of somebody (a M2F) being called Maddy by their young children ( the kids then had a Mummy & a Maddy)

[ativan]

I just responded to a topic that Apollo brought up.
Apollo wrote of a friend who uses a nice term, I think.

Genderfriend.

I like that a lot.

Ativan

[Kitpup]

When I was in my junior year of high school I did a paper on gender in the english language (because I love language) and found faint traces of a word that, apparently, has its origins in middle english and simply means 'person': ou

[Stealthy]

When it comes to pronouns, I personally use shi/hir to refer to myself and to other people I don't know the gender or preferred pronouns of. With other non-binary trans people, I use their preferred pronouns.

When there's already a gender-neutral term (like 'sibling' in place of brother or sister), I use that. It can make stuff sound awkward or overly formal, though.

I found the term 'birl' used somewhere (as an alternative to 'boy' and 'girl'), and since then, I've been using it like crazy.

[BlueSloth]

I just responded to a topic that Apollo brought up.
Apollo wrote of a friend who uses a nice term, I think.

Genderfriend.

I like that a lot.

Ativan

I still can't figure that one out.  I saw Apollo's post and know it's supposed to be a neutral form of "boyfriend" or "girlfriend", but.... why "gender"?  Isn't that sequence of letters already taken?  It's confusing to suddenly add a new meaning to it like that.

I'd rather be a birlfriend than a genderfriend.

[Pica Pica]

I'd settle for Lover.

[Edge]

Personally, I don't like any of the ones I've heard. (Granted, I haven't gone through this thread yet.) Ones like "ze" or "xe" or stuff like that sound and look awkward. "They" always feels plural to me (although I know that's not the case, that's how it feels to me). "Hir" sounds too much like "her."
Honestly, I'd really like it if people used "he" and "she" and just switched them up. For example, "His name is Edge and she likes brains." Or, if that's too confusing, I honestly don't mind "it" as long as the person saying it makes it clear that I am a person and is respectful.

[Cade]

My nephews were trained to use titles, and I was their Aunt so my wife started calling herself Uncle. They never adopted it....

When I took Russian, we called each other tovarisch-- comrade. I've always liked that.