Prominent left-wing organizations and activists commemorated “International Pronouns Day” on Wednesday, urging individuals to “make it a practice to ask people for their pronouns.”

LGBT activists and activist organizations celebrated “International Pronouns Day” on social media by urging people to refrain from assuming that an individual’s pronouns coincide with their biological sex.

“Today is International #PronounsDay. We all want to be accepted and respected as we are. Make it a practice to ask people for their pronouns and respect them,” the official Women’s March Twitter account tweeted:

Today is International #PronounsDay. We all want to be accepted and respected as we are. Make it a practice to ask people for their pronouns and respect them. Illustration: phoebehelander (IG) pic.twitter.com/eKhmIVRXkx — Women's March (@womensmarch) October 16, 2019

“Happy #PronounsDay!” Lambda Legal, which describes itself as “the oldest & largest national legal organization litigating & advocating for #LGBTQ people,” wrote.

“Refusal to use someone’s correct pronouns is refusing to respect their identity & experience,” it added, urging “cis” people to “help normalize pronoun use by offering their own without being asked”:

🗣️Happy #PronounsDay! Remember: ➡️ Singular "they" is grammatically correct.

➡️ Refusal to use someone's correct pronouns is refusing to respect their identity & experience. 👎

➡️ Cis people can help normalize pronoun use by offering their own without being asked! ❤️💛💛💚💙💜 pic.twitter.com/2ie8qirk5y — Lambda Legal (@LambdaLegal) October 16, 2019

“Using someone’s correct pronouns—and giving your own—isn’t difficult,” presidential hopeful Julián Castro (D) wrote, listing his preferred pronouns.

“I’m Julián Castro, he/him/él. It takes one extra breath to help people feel seen and respected,” he continued. “I think that’s worth it”:

Someone reminded us that it really is hard for some people, and can trigger anxiety or dysphoria. I’m grateful to learn how to be more inclusive of people all genders. — Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) October 16, 2019

“Calling people by the correct pronouns matters,” the Human Rights Campaign tweeted:

Happy International Pronouns Day! She/Her/Hers. He/Him/His. They/Them/Theirs. Calling people by the correct pronouns matters. #PronounsDay pic.twitter.com/2sDmNBWGHP — Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) October 16, 2019

More:

It's really quite simple: Pronouns are important to everyone, not just LGBTQ people. If you were a cisgender male (assigned male at birth and identifying as male) but referred to as she/her, you'd be uncomfortable, right? Now, turn that into empathy for us.#PronounsDay — Charlotte Clymer🏳️‍🌈 (@cmclymer) October 16, 2019

Dear Concerned, Please address people with the name(s) and pronoun(s) they request. Don’t make assumptions. It’s really easy to not be a bigoted asshole. Cheers.#PronounsDay — Senthorun Raj ✨ (@senthorun) October 16, 2019

Happy International Pronouns Day! Today is a chance for us to make respecting, sharing and educating about personal pronouns more commonplace. Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is basic to human dignity.#PronounsDay #PronounsDay19 pic.twitter.com/LMvKsjb6wX — LGBT Foundation (@LGBTfdn) October 16, 2019

Using "they/them" pronouns to describe one person can seem like an entirely new idea to some people. Keep persevering. Being recognised as yourself when you're used to being misunderstood is the best feeling in the world. 💫#PronounsDay https://t.co/gcHpnvnrPK — Gendered Intelligence (@Genderintell) October 16, 2019

Happy #PronounsDay! What are your pronouns? Drop them below. ⤵️💖 — GLAAD (@glaad) October 16, 2019

Some 2020 Democrats have embraced the move to automatically specify preferred pronouns. During CNN’s Equality Town Hall this month, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) walked onto the stage and announced her preferred pronouns as “she, her, and hers.”

CNN’s Chris Cuomo issued an awkward response, which ultimately triggered backlash.

“‘She,’ ‘her,’ and ‘hers’? Mine, too,” he said, later apologizing for the remark:

PLEASE READ: When Sen. Harris said her pronouns were she her and her's, I said mine too. I should not have. I apologize. I am an ally of the LGBTQ community, and I am sorry because I am committed to helping us achieve equality. Thank you for watching our townhall. — Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) October 11, 2019

Like Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has publicly specified her preferred pronouns, listing “She/her” on her Twitter bio:

.@ewarren has added her pronouns to her twitter bio. Julián is the only other one I found in a quick canvass of the other candidates. pic.twitter.com/43lqYRuKFt — Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) July 18, 2019

Preferred pronouns have become a topic of interest among far-left millennials and social justice warriors, particularly. Those who identify as part of the ultra-progressive group argue that gender is a social construct and should be viewed as a spectrum, hence the varying genders and accompanying pronouns. Preferred pronouns can range from the traditional “his” or “hers” to lesser-known terms such as “xem,” “hirself,” “xyrs,” or “zir.”