In his ruling in Doe v. Fedcap Rehabilitation, U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken of Manhattan used the preferred pronouns of the gender-nonconforming plaintiff, Jaime Doe. Both legal teams also used the plaintiff’s preferred pronouns. They prefer plurals rather than gendered singular pronouns.
Judge Oetken, the first openly gay man to become a federal judge, noted Doe’s preferred pronouns early in his opinion, using “they,” “them” and “their” in place of masculine or feminine pronouns throughout the body of the decision.
According to Joshua Block, a transgender rights lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, “It shows basic respect for litigants appearing in front of you and the appearance of impartiality. If judges reject the use of a pronoun, are they really giving the litigant a fair shake?”
Read more at Reuters