On the Subject of "They"

Every time someone makes an announcement that they are nonbinary and would like they/them pronouns to be used, a wave of backlash that is mostly made of false accusations takes place. People are entitled to their own opinions. They are not entitled to their own facts.

The claim is that people are trying to change the language. "They is only used as a plural pronoun!" they will exclaim. "You can't use they in reference to one person."

The truth is that "they" has always been a pronoun that can be used as a singular pronoun or a plural pronoun. And this is nothing new. This has been around for a long time. 

Let's say you and I are sitting together and I get a phone call. After I'm off the phone, you might ask me "What did they want?" or "What did they say?" Neither one of us would view that as incorrect grammar or a strange way of speaking. It is completely normal to say a sentence like that. It's not out of the ordinary or part of some woke takeover of the English language. It's just using plain English to communicate a question. 

Let me pose another scenario. Let's say that you work at a restaurant and a customer comes in and asks to speak to the manager. You might go to the manager and say, "They are waiting to talk to you," while indicating to the person you are referring to. In this scenario, there are, of course, other pronouns that might suit your needs as well, but the point is that if you use "they" your manager is not going to look at you with a bewildered look and say, "Well, where are the rest of them? You said they!" 

So for those of you who still want to make an issue of this, let's go to the dictionary, shall we?

They Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

pronoun, possessive their or theirs,objective them.

nominative plural of he, she, and it1:He needed a ride, and she had her car, so they left together.

people in general:They say he's rich.

nominative singular pronoun:

1. (used to refer to a generic or unspecified person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context):Whoever is of voting age, whether they are interested in politics or not, should vote.A person may enlist only if they are over 18.
2. (used to refer to a specific or known person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context):The victim refused to testify at the trial because they feared for their life.My best friend from high school is famous now—too bad we didn’t stay in touch after they moved to California.
3. (used to refer to a nonbinary or gender-nonconforming person previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context):Quinn is waiting for summer vacation to adopt a puppy, so they will have more time to get their new family member properly settled.

There is no reason to complain about "they" being used the way it has always been used. It is a normal part of our language. And for so many to be trying to educate us on grammar when they are seriously trying to argue that they cannot be used as a singular pronoun is...well, it's a lot of things. Let me just put it this way. If you have to make things up or rewrite history in order for your argument to make sense, then maybe you didn't have much of an argument to begin with.