Thanks for this considered response! > obligatory gender in animate pronouns While it's just one in a long list of things, I'll point out that singular "they"

Thanks for this considered response! > obligatory gender in animate pronouns While it's just one in a long list of things, I'll point out that singular "they" is available (and has a long history) for people wishing to use non-gendered, animate pronouns. (I have also heard "it", but, while everyone's mileage will differ, my brain has a much harder time getting over the difficulty with reading "it" as animate than it does the difficulty with reading "they" as singular.)