This is your regularly scheduled reminder that 'cis' literally means ‘on this side’. It's a term with Latin origins that has been used in scientific language for 135 years, and it's not a 'slur’.
The opposite of 'cis’ is 'trans’, which means 'across’, and ‘transgender’ is just one of its many uses. You have probably eaten trans fats, for example, or perhaps you have been on a 'transatlantic’ flight.
Ain't science and language grand?
It is probably also time for a reminder that the use of singular 'they’ goes back ages, and that it was used by Shakespeare, for example.
You should use the singular they wherever possible, unless you are talking about a specific, named person for whom you know their preferred pronouns.
Not only does this include non-binary folks, it also avoids reinforcing gendered representations of interactions that involve a power differential, such as the common attacker vs. victim or administrator vs. user that is so prevalent in tech circles, where the male form (he) often wields the power.
Documentation, marketing, legal; singular they.
Sindarina, Edge Case Detective
Charlotte Walker