EXPLAINER: Pronouns, nonbinary people and the Club Q attack

The Colorado Springs gay bar shooting suspect’s assertion of being nonbinary has put gender identity and pronouns — and some sensitive questions around them — back in the spotlight.

Respecting Anderson Lee Aldrich’s request to be referenced with they/them pronouns does not amount to placating someone accused of a heinous act, nonbinary people and advocates say.

But they do worry that Aldrich’s high profile as a crime suspect could lead to negative assumptions about all nonbinary people. And they stress that any skepticism about Aldrich’s gender identity shouldn’t be used as an excuse to doubt all nonbinary people or cast aspersions on how they use pronouns.

Critics of nontraditional gender identities — that is, of people who do not identify strictly as man or woman, boy or girl — often ridicule the use of gender-neutral pronouns such as they/them, and the notion that Aldrich may be using them as some sort of stunt or potential legal defense has been an undercurrent in the legal handling and media coverage of the case.