Found this blog post and found it had more insight into the issues around the dev and the toxicity in FOSS

  • warm@kbin.earth
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    5 months ago

    ‘They’ has always existed in the English language as plural or singular, context dependent. Hence it’s natural transition into a pronoun. Non-native English speakers can be excused for using gendered pronouns, the problem isn’t them using it in the first place, it’s them refusing to update the language after a reasonable explanation to do so.

    People are brigading, sure, but it’s such a simple change to make, one that only helps the world. So, yeah, fuck the devs honestly.

    • Malgas@beehaw.org
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      5 months ago

      Well, not always: Plural ‘they’ is a borrowing from Old Norse ca. 1200 AD, and the earliest attestation of singular ‘they’ is about a century later.

      But, yeah, you’d think 700 years of continuous use would be enough to make it uncontroversial…