Beyond ‘He’ or ‘She’: Using Nonbinary Pronouns & Getting it Right

Monterey County Rainbow Connections Gender Diversity Provider Training

Beyond ‘He’ or ‘She’: Using Nonbinary Pronouns & Getting it Right

May 21, 2025

CE’s Available
The Gender Health Training Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Gender Health Training Institute maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

An increasing number of Americans, including LGBTQ youth, are using gender pronouns that are not “he” or “she.” Many professionals who serve system-involved youth may experience discomfort or confusion about how to use such pronouns, like “ze/hir” or “fae/faer” in a sentence, and can unintentionally cause harm to the youth they are supporting.

This training helps professionals increase their ease, effectiveness, and confidence in using neopronouns correctly, and know what to do if they make a mistake. In this course, we will use three modalities to practice using these pronouns, via an online game, worksheets, and a roleplay. We will also review research about how correct pronoun use impacts health, well-being, & focus, as well as explore how non-English speakers are developing nonbinary pronouns in their language of origin.

What We Will Cover

Distinguish between neopronouns, nonbinary pronouns, and gender-neutral pronouns.
Identify at least five examples of nonbinary pronoun sets, and review their history & prevalence in the U.S.
Become familiar with research about use of neopronouns, focusing on youth, as well as the individual and social impacts of using someone’s correct pronouns.
Practice using neopronouns in three different modalities (written, in a game, & in a roleplay.)

Learning objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

Participants can practice using neopronouns via online game or written worksheets.
Participants can respond to misgendering with the four best practices recommended.

Presenters

Luke Pacha, MA, M.Div.

Luke Pacha is the owner of Infinite Diversity LLC. He holds a Master of Religion and Psychology, Master of Divinity, and Certificate of Sexuality and Religion from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Psychological Services from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

Luke straddles the worlds of academia/theory and practice, serving as the Board President of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, a national non-profit organization that publishes a 705-page resource guide of the same name, by and for the trans, gender expansive, and nonbinary communities. Through this work, he connects with leading transgender and gender expansive scholars in medicine, law, mental health, social sciences, politics, and culture to collaborate on editions of Trans Bodies. He recently authored the Religion and Spirituality chapter of the second edition of the book, released April 15, 2022, and served as Survey Editor, managing a nationwide qualitative survey of over 2,000 respondents quoted in the book, and editing several chapters. Luke co-authored an academic review of methodologies used to survey transgender & nonbinary people based on the Trans Bodies Second Edition Survey, “Surveying trans and nonbinary communities: Research methodologies, accountability, and ethics with the Trans Bodies, Trans Selves Survey (2nd edition),” published in Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity in 2022.

Luke also co-authored the Religion and Spirituality chapter in the surgical textbook Gender Confirmation Surgery: Principles and Techniques for an Emerging Field, edited by Loren Schecter, released 2020. He has been featured as a subject matter expert on gender pronouns in Rolling Stone, Grammarly’s Guide to Personal Pronouns, and NPR Cap Radio about best pronoun practices in the workplace. He has also been interviewed on NPR’s The Takeaway and been published in LGBTQ Nation. More information can be found about Luke at infinitediversityllc.com.

Session is 180 min including time for Q&A.

3 CE Credits Available

The Gender Health Training Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Gender Health Training Institute maintains responsibility for this program and its content.