For transgender people, a pronoun can be crucial (http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/transgender-people-pronoun-can-be-crucial-6C10981028)
Helen A.S. Popkin, NBC News, 8/22/13
Pfc. Bradley Manning is now Chelsea Manning. For all the confusion this is causing, Manning's declaration of gender identity... is plain as toast: "I am Chelsea Manning. I am female."
Set to begin a 35-year prison sentence, Manning spoke of a desire to begin hormone therapy, and made one additional point clear: "I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun .... "
On Twitter, "Chelsea Manning," became the top Trending Topic in the U.S., with some admonishing those who continue to use "he," while others repeated the same obvious "Bradley WoManning?" joke ad nauseum. Those critical of Manning's decision were far more tasteless in their tweeted opinions.
But some were caught off guard -- in particular, about the pronoun shift, made all over the media, including by NBC News.
The bible of news editing, the AP Stylebook, makes it clear: Call people what they want to be called. For transgender people, the AP says, "use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth."
Fortunately, my native language does not use gender pronouns so much frequently, because it has so many gender-neutral pronouns.
barbie~~