Sir, – On December 14th last, you published a piece by Donald Clarke supporting the singer Sam Smith and the use of non-binary pronouns ("Calling someone what they want to be called is the civilised, polite thing to do" , Culture).
Yet two weeks later, you managed to “misgender” Smith no less than three times in one sentence, referring to “his latest album”, “his biggest hits” and “his band” in your TV guide.
Did The Irish Times consciously baulk at writing “their latest album”, “their biggest hits” and “their band”?
Or was it an “honest mistake”? In which case, it only proves the impossibility of implementing such a policy, short of checking the “preferred pronouns” of every single person referred to or featured in The Irish Times in future. – Yours, etc,
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INGMAR KIANG,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.