I understand there are a lot of borrow words from the American movement. One thing I don’t know about is if folks of non-binary genders have terminology for themselves in various non-English languages, and if they would prefer some different pronouns, how they handle that. I know we have that international audience here. Let us know how you do.
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In Swedish, “hen”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hen_(pronoun) . Here’s the start of what the Swedish Youth Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (RFSL) says about “pronoun”, from http://www.transformering.se/vad-ar-trans/ordlista , translation mine:
“Pronouns are for example he, she, hen and it – that which one wishes to be called when someone talks about a third person (for example: “hen is nice, I like hen). Pronouns can hang together with one’s gender/gender identity, but don’t need to do that.”
Elsewhere at that site ( http://www.transformering.se/transbloggen/hen-i-riksdagen ) is an essay written shortly after “hen” was used for the first time in the Swedish Parliament, as a cleaner and easier way to say “he or she”. The essay comments that the RFSL youth organization has been using “hen” for a long time, and points out that it’s often forgotten that many people identify as “hen”, in the same way that many others identify as “he” or “she”, that is, “hen” is not simply a substitute for the binary “he or she”.
“Hen” is becoming more widely used here. After our child was born, the pediatric nurse gave us a book on life with a child. It used “hen” throughout to refer to the child.
Thanks, Andrew! That’s real heart-warming, actually.