Have you read about the Professor Against Political Correctness and his problems with Non-Binary pronouns?
I've been following this debate and I've also read many comments from people who support what he's doing. I really wish this sort of thing wasn't happening again to the Non Binary community. It's not cool, and here's why.
A third gender needs to be accepted in this culture. It isn't such a radical idea. Those who identify as Non-Binary are something other than 'male' or 'female', to put it simply. We should all agree on that by now, yet there are some who don't understand.
"Gender is what's between someone's legs. That's how God intended it to be."
God never said gender was only male and female (assuming you believe in God). Nobody can possibly prove this anyway. Let's move on.
The idea that gender is binary (this or that) ignores the complexity of the human experience. When did everyone on Earth agree that there is only male and female? When did we all get together and agree that gender is determined only by a person's reproductive organs? Does gender encompass more than things related to procreation?
Gender isn't something we all see the exact same way, such as the color red. No two people have identical interpretations of what it means to be male or female, feminine or masculine, alpha or omega. This is good, it creates endless variations that make life more interesting.
Maybe you think these non binary people are just trying to get attention. You might think it's just a phase people go through. It's possible those things have happened, but to assume everyone is doing that would be naive and completely lacking empathy. This isn't the hip new thing with college kids.
And what's so offensive about picking HE or SHE? [1]
Some people have gender dysphoria. It is a real condition. It isn't uncommon for someone with this disorder to end their own life.
But this Professor and those like him don't care if someone is suffering. They want to make the issue about them and their comfort zone. Can't they at least try to use non binary pronouns?
What about languages where everything has a gender (isn't that pretty much every other non-english language?) Should we have people get started rewriting the entirety of Russian or French? [1]
I don't think rewriting Russian or French is what they're asking. Nobody expects this Professor to change his beliefs about gender. It's just common decency not to do things that make others miserable (like purposely using 'She' or 'Him' when you've already been asked not to). It's common decency to accommodate people's needs, especially when it's something really simple like pronouns.
Not all traditions are necessary. Just because a person was assigned 'boy' or 'girl' at birth doesn't mean they wanted it.
It really isn't that hard to use 'they' when referring to someone. Nobody should expect you to get it right at first. But make the effort please.