I hate the term 'it'. Saying 'he or she' at least is an attempt at keeping a person, a person.
A friend of mine was told a story recently by a colleague from her work, who was asked on the weekend to come down to the pub by her brother. Why? To have a drink, a chat, a get-together? No!!
To look at an 'it'!!!
Of course, they had their good look, asked 'it' for a light, then proceeded to tell all and sundry about their weekend encounter. I am happy to say that all other work colleagues were not impressed by this 'story', and just went on with their work. Maybe people are becoming more open minded after all.