In English, many non-binary people don't necessarily use a third/neutral gender pronoun, so you don't necessarily need to use one when referring to them in Esperanto. But it is up to you/your character, so you have some flexibility.

I was wondering the same when I discovered Esperantujo and wasn't quite sure how my identity would fit in with the language. I'm genderfluid/transmasc and use he/they pronouns in English, so I prefer "li" in Esperanto. However, I did just attend my first event (Somera Esperanto Studado in Martin, Slovakia) and was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a good amount of LGBT programme organised during the conference.

I'd personally be comfortable using "gxi" as a personal pronoun since the word has a different connotation than its English translation, but every Esperantist I met who used a neutral pronoun preferred "ri", which I've also started using. So yes, Ri isn't "Fundamento," but it's more widely used than you'd think. It's just a little bit harder to tell when your communication is confined to Lernu and other online communities.

In my (uninformed) opinion, it's perfectly acceptable, too, to breach the Fundamento when you're addressing an issue (such as pronouns for non-gender-conforming individuals) which wasn't at the forefront of early Esperantists' minds. In English, marginalised groups get to coin and reclaim our own terminology, so why not in Esperanto?

As a sidenote, you might want to check out the "Egalecen" blog in Esperanto on equality/intersectionality, published by the same team who organised LGBT-oriented events at SES 2015. You might find some relevant information!

https://egalecen.wordpress.com/

caltrans:
I'd personally be comfortable using "gxi" as a personal pronoun since the word has a different connotation than its English translation, but every Esperantist I met who used a neutral pronoun preferred "ri", which I've also started using.

This is a sincere question.

Scenario 1 - Let's say I meet someone who looks like a girl. I would call her sxi.

Scenario 2 - Let's say I meet someone who looks like a man. I would call him li.

Scenario 3 - Let's say I meet someone who looks like neither a man nor a woman. This is rare but I suppose it could happen. What do I call this person? If I say ri or gxi then this might be a very big insult. For example, if someone called me ri or gxi then I would be annoyed because the person should be able to tell that I am a man.

So the question is, what scenario would you need to use these neutral pronouns?

yasmin_chanelle:I am writing a comic and one of the characters is non-binary, so in English I would use "they", but as far as I know Esperanto has no equivalent. I cant use "li" or "sxi" as those are explicitly gendered. What neutral pronoun can I use that is most recognized that will cause the least ruckus? I already avoid using reformisms but I really do need this. If there is a way to refer to them neutrally without reform that would be great (I've seen "geli" used and that seems to not break the fundamento, but its understandability is debatable). What do I do?

I apologize if someone has said this already---I didn't have it in me to read all the bickering, pedantry, and sexism in too many of the 70-odd messages here.

I know nothing of your story, but maybe causing a ruckus is what you need? I am imagining a scene where, with a good deal of panache, your protagonist explains how non-binary pronouns work. This won't work if you're going for a world where it is no big deal to be non-binary, but perhaps then you need a direct author's note explaining your additional root (it is scarcely a reform). I can't imagine that you have a very big audience among people who oppose a non-binary pronoun.

For the record, I like "ri", but since I personally go by "li", I don't have a horse in this race.

Alkanadi:

caltrans:
I'd personally be comfortable using "gxi" as a personal pronoun since the word has a different connotation than its English translation, but every Esperantist I met who used a neutral pronoun preferred "ri", which I've also started using.

This is a sincere question.

Scenario 1 - Let's say I meet someone who looks like a girl. I would call her sxi.

Scenario 2 - Let's say I meet someone who looks like a man. I would call him li.

Scenario 3 - Let's say I meet someone who looks like neither a man nor a woman. This is rare but I suppose it could happen. What do I call this person? If I say ri or gxi then this might be a very big insult. For example, if someone called me ri or gxi then I would be annoyed because the person should be able to tell that I am a man.

So the question is, what scenario would you need to use these neutral pronouns?

There is a simple solution! "Kiu pronomon vi preferas?" (Which pronoun do you prefer?) If people get weird about that, then that's on them. So to answer your question, the situation where you are told that li and ŝi aren't going to cut it.

yasmin_chanelle:I am writing a comic and one of the characters is non-binary, so in English I would use "they", but as far as I know Esperanto has no equivalent. I cant use "li" or "sxi" as those are explicitly gendered. What neutral pronoun can I use that is most recognized that will cause the least ruckus? I already avoid using reformisms but I really do need this. If there is a way to refer to them neutrally without reform that would be great (I've seen "geli" used and that seems to not break the fundamento, but its understandability is debatable). What do I do?

My thought:
I'm agender myself, my opinion is not meant to speak for the non-binary community.
I choose to go by he, him and his or they, them and theirs, I have a 'these are your options' attitude. Some people prefer one set of pronouns or switch between sets, this does not necessarily mean they don't care what you call them. I don't accept being called 'she'. The best thing I can think of is to choose between the ones already used in Esperanto rather than use those that are less known. ili may be confused for plural and saying the character's name mightn't make sense depending on what is being said. It's a risk you will just have to take if you choose it. No matter what you choose there will be war on both gender and language you decided to use. Besides, it's your book. An avid bookworm tends to deal with differing beliefs maturely.
(If your character went by 'he', that shouldn't automatically make them a boy, they can still be non-binary.)

nornen:

Red_Rat_Writer:

nornen:Why even more pronouns?

Why not simply one for the third person singular, like we have with first and second person?
Singular: mi - vi - ĝi

Why have plurals for the first and third person, when we have no singular-plural distinction for the second person?
Plural: mi - vi - ĝi

I think that getting rid of 'ili' and 'ni' might be a bit confusing, but I would be game with getting rid of sxi/li.

Why would having the same word for "mi" and "ni" be more confusing than having the same word for singular "vi" and plural "vi"?

The difference between mi and ni is more than the one between singular and plural vi. In any person other than first, plurals make sense, but in the first person, the singular mi refers to the speaker, but ni is not simply "the speakers". If mi is "Bob", then ni is not "Bobs" or "a bunch of Bob" or anything like that; it is "Bob and at least one other person". Because Esperanto does not distinguish between inclusive and exclusive, the other person(s) could be vi, or li, or ŝi, or ĝi...or any combination thereof. But barring some sort of time travel or cloning or any other sort of fictional situation that makes pronouns weird anyway, ni will never mean "more than one mi". Your pluralless system would only really work if mi was only ever singular, and ni was replaced by mi-vi, mi-ĝi, or mi-vi-ĝi, as appropriate (on the model of compounds like pli-malpli).

Now that I've finished typing this, I see that the posts I'm replying to are about a month old...but I think I will post this anyway, just in case it is helpful to any interested writers.

Breto:

nornen:

Red_Rat_Writer:

nornen:Why even more pronouns?

Why not simply one for the third person singular, like we have with first and second person?
Singular: mi - vi - ĝi

Why have plurals for the first and third person, when we have no singular-plural distinction for the second person?
Plural: mi - vi - ĝi

I think that getting rid of 'ili' and 'ni' might be a bit confusing, but I would be game with getting rid of sxi/li.

Why would having the same word for "mi" and "ni" be more confusing than having the same word for singular "vi" and plural "vi"?

The difference between mi and ni is more than the one between singular and plural vi. In any person other than first, plurals make sense, but in the first person, the singular mi refers to the speaker, but ni is not simply "the speakers". If mi is "Bob", then ni is not "Bobs" or "a bunch of Bob" or anything like that; it is "Bob and at least one other person". Because Esperanto does not distinguish between inclusive and exclusive, the other person(s) could be vi, or li, or ŝi, or ĝi...or any combination thereof. But barring some sort of time travel or cloning or any other sort of fictional situation that makes pronouns weird anyway, ni will never mean "more than one mi". Your pluralless system would only really work if mi was only ever singular, and ni was replaced by mi-vi, mi-ĝi, or mi-vi-ĝi, as appropriate (on the model of compounds like pli-malpli).

Now that I've finished typing this, I see that the posts I'm replying to are about a month old...but I think I will post this anyway, just in case it is helpful to any interested writers.

If one "vi" for both singular and plural aren't confusing, why then do such forms as "y'all", "yinz" and "you guys" even exist?

Let's keep this thread on-topic. Start a new thread if you want to talk about something other than the original poster's question.

Personally, if I was interested in exploring this issue, I'd use 'ili' and make the character have a name that looks like an Esperanto plural (ending in '-j') like 'Konroj' or 'Lovĝoj' just to play with it. ^_^

oreso:Personally, if I was interested in exploring this issue, I'd use 'ili' and make the character have a name that looks like an Esperanto plural (ending in '-j') like 'Konroj' or 'Lovĝoj' just to play with it. ^_^

Ian McShane?