(i ripped this off wikipedia real fast so sorry if it's lib)

In October 1776, the Public Universal Friend contracted an epidemic disease and was bedridden and near death with a high fever. Their family summoned a doctor from Attleboro, six miles away, and neighbors kept up a death-watch at night. The fever broke after several days. The Friend later reported that [deadname redacted] had died, receiving revelations from God through two archangels who proclaimed there was "Room, Room, Room, in the many Mansions of eternal glory for Thee and for everyone". The Friend further said that [deadname redacted]'s soul had ascended to heaven and the body had been reanimated with a new spirit charged by God with preaching his word, that of the "Publick Universal Friend", describing that name in the words of Isaiah 62:2 as "a new name which the mouth of the Lord hath named".

From that time on, the Friend refused to answer to their deadname, ignoring or chastising those who insisted on using it. When visitors asked if it was the name of the person they were addressing, the Friend simply quoted Luke 23:3 ("thou sayest it").  Identifying as neither male nor female, the Friend asked not to be referred to with gendered pronouns. Followers respected these wishes; they referred only to "the Public Universal Friend" or short forms such as "the Friend" or "P.U.F.", and many avoided gender-specific pronouns even in private diaries. When someone asked if the Friend was male or female, the preacher replied "I am that I am", saying the same thing to a man who criticized the Friend's manner of dress (adding, in the latter case, "there is nothing indecent or improper in my dress or appearance; I am not accountable to mortals").

editorial note: I think this is a very cool story and I really love hearing it. We've been around forever and we've been doing variations of this forever. It's really beautiful


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  • Angel [any]M
    ·
    18 days ago

    I'm they/them to normies, and it's generally for their sake and not mine, as I'm just sparing them the confusion.

    I don't necessarily mind any particular set of pronouns, so I in theory go by any and all pronouns, but a lot of people, especially if they're cis, do not know to handle this. I've seen tropes such as people feeling as if they must switch up my pronouns in a single sentence, and then they struggle really bad by trying too hard. For example, someone might say something like, "They play bass, and he, err, I meant, she loves progressive metal." To clarify, the "they," "he," and "she" all are referring to me as an individual in this example.

    I also get people thinking that it's best to say he, she, and they all at once for each instance of using my pronouns. For example, someone might say something like, "He/she/they play bass, and he/she/they love progressive metal."

    For how this problem may affect me from my angle, some other things I've noticed are that I've gotten people who default to either she/her or he/him specifically, which are things that, on their own, are not bad to me, but they typically come with some invalidating implications in this context, i.e., someone who exclusively calls me she/her is typically neglecting the non-binary aspect of my identity, and someone who exclusively calls me he/him is playing a good ol' game of bioessentialism and thinking that I'm functionally no different than a cis man even though, unless one's under the belief that cis men typically take estrogen, that's demonstrably false.

    All of this shit made me say, "Fuck it, I'll pick the pronouns for you all," and I guess "they/them" would be the least inaccurate from a "how society would interpret my gender based on what pronouns I go by" perspective. In a perfect world without all of these implications rooted in binarism and cisheteronormativity, someone would be able to just pick whichever pronouns they want to call me while still simultaneously acknowledging the validity of who I am through my experiences and identity, but that's not usually how it works in practice.

    I find that people who are legitimately understanding of how personal and varied gender identity can be typically are people I feel comfortable telling that I go by any and all pronouns. However, people like the doctor that literally prescribes my fucking HRT, for some reason, think that me saying "I go by any and all pronouns" is me saying "I'm uncertain, so I'm just opening myself up to different possibilities before I decide," when in actuality, it's a part of the be-all and end-all of my identity for me to go by any and all pronouns. There is no confusion on my end.

    • MusicOwl [comrade/them, sie/hir]M
      ·
      edit-2
      18 days ago

      Love my all pronouns comrades. leslie-shining I really love going out of my way to use multiple sets of pronouns for my all pronouns comrades in the fewest possible sentences. She plays the bass, he is recording a new record, their record comes out in a few months, kind of thing. I love when gender is playful. DOWN WITH CIS!

      Also fuck the medical system. Just give me my hormones, check my blood levels, that is all you need to fucking do.

      • Angel [any]M
        ·
        18 days ago

        Hell yeah, I'm totally cool with people switching up pronouns as long as it's genuine, done properly, and not forced. It's just that the libs I've interacted with miss the mark...

        • MusicOwl [comrade/them, sie/hir]M
          ·
          edit-2
          18 days ago

          For the libs, I’m she/her. For folks that get it, it is anything except he/him as long as it is respectful.