Eli5: Why do you use “they” for non-gendered speech instead of “it”?

Question

I’m not a native speaker, but as far as I understood, for singular objects and animals “it” was used. Why use “they” for individual people then?

In: 1400

Answer 1

I’m also a non-native speaker, and I use they for myself, so I figured I’d also chime in.

“It” is not used in reference to human beings. It is considered dehumanizing to use “It” when referring to a person in English. “They” has a history of being used to refer to people of indeterminate gender, and so some humans who reject binary gender and/or gendered language use “They” to refer to… well, ourselves. Hope that helps!