International Pronouns Day on Oct. 15 raised awareness about respect and the words we use when referring to ourselves and each other.
Image Credit: Team USA’s Timothy Leduc in action in the figure skating mixed pairs short program during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Capital Indoor Stadium. | Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
One of the pinned posts on Nikki Hiltz’s TikTok account is a clip taken from TV coverage of the Monaco Diamond League in July 2023.
“Commentators effortlessly get my pronouns correct after I set the American record in the mile,” Hiltz wrote alongside the video, adding in the caption: “Thank you, NBC Sports.”
The following year, Hiltz expressed gratitude to the broadcaster again after the Paris Olympics. “Thank you NBC for normalizing they/them/theirs pronouns and showing the world how simple it can be to respect and validate nonbinary people,” they wrote.
Hiltz is among a group of genderqueer athletes who publicly share their personal pronouns in the profiles of their social media accounts.
International Pronouns Day is an awareness day dedicated to learning about how we all use these placeholder words when talking to and about each other. It’s been marked annually on Oct. 15 since 2018.
Four years earlier, Katie Barnes wrote for Outsports about the importance of pronouns. “I use the pronouns I do because “she” and “her” carry connotations, assumptions, and expectations that do not match my reality… they just don’t describe who I am or how I enter into spaces,” they wrote.
Here are 9 more athletes blazing trails in their respective sports and providing LGBTQ representation, in part through publicly sharing their personal pronouns on social media, which we’ve included next to their names and sports, as recorded in their bios.
Timothy LeDuc, figure skating — they/them
At Beijing 2022, LeDuc became the first out nonbinary athlete to compete in a Winter Olympics. They twice won the pairs title at U.S. nationals, skating with Ashley Cain. Now retired from competition, they are coaching in Chicago.
Quinn, soccer — they/them
Through being part of the Canada team that won gold medals in Tokyo four years ago, Quinn made Olympic history. Playing at the 2023 FIFA World Cup made them the first out trans nonbinary footballer to appear in that tournament too. They’re now back in their homeland with Vancouver Rise FC.
