On Friday, Jan. 8, the American Dialect Society (ADS) revealed the “Word of the Year” for 2015 is an exciting movement forward for the acknowledgement of gender-neutral and nonbinary people. The ADS chose the word “they” as a step to being more accepting and politically correct for people who do not identify with the “normal” genders of his or her.

The word they is bland in retrospect to the previous winners like #blacklivesmatter for 2014, bailout for 2008 and Y2K for 1999. It is interesting to see such a simple word that is used constantly take on a meaning of broad change for the year 2015.

Of course, the idea of the word has been around since the dawn of language, but gender neutral humans have never been conceptualized for the general public, until the past few years. The word “they” as used for a nonbinary purpose has traditionally only referred to androgynous gods, so it is a nice and humane transition for people to finally respect those who do not fit in with the gender structure. In an ironic twist, most languages other than English have their own words for gender neutrality and it is commonly accepted.

Gender neutrality has only become recently known and respected with the raised awareness of Caitlyn Jenner’s transition. However, several legal cases of discrimination against transgender/non-binary people as well as the legalization of gay marriage have also served as huge steps forward for the rising LGBTQA+ community.

As a very liberating movement for the community, people are finally getting recognized for who they are, and the fact that it is documented in a widely publicized manner is incredible. Of course, this action by ADS is miniscule in the long run, but it reinforces the important idea that those who do not want to label themselves with stereotypes should be recognized and given the representation and rights everyone deserves.