LEX KONNELLY
(UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO)

Highlighting the burgeoning relationship between transgender communities, linguistics, and social justice, Konnelly draws attention to the role of language in wider cultural orientations to transgender issues, as well as the ways in which linguistics can be at the forefront of transaffirming language advocacy. By way of example, this talk reports on joint work on non-binary singular they, arguing that this innovative use of they is a grammatical change in progress that can be categorized into three distinct stages, with its most recent broadening – that is, as a non-binary pronoun of reference – dovetailing with wider socio-cultural changes that underscore the difficulty in separating grammatical and social judgements. As Konnelly aims to show, linguists from all disciplines – both theoretical and applied – are especially well-suited to leverage theoretical insights to advocate for trans-affirming language practice.

This talk is one of four keynote talks during They, Hirself, Em and You: Nonbinary Pronouns in Theory and Practice, a conference held at Queen’s University from June 11-13 with the generous support of many Queen’s funds, units and departments, as well as the Canadian Linguistics Association and the University of Toronto Linguistics Department.