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I am totally in favour of including non-binary folks in my written and spoken speech, though I'm not sure exactly how I go about doing it competently without sounding like I am trying to avoid particular forms of speech, etcetera. Whenever I have tried to do such a thing it has always come out as being too ambiguous that the reader(s) and or listener(s) are genuinely confused. This is probably minimally due to my still being a learner of English. I'll provide you with a few examples so that you can see where I am going with this:

Instead of saying something like "all genders'", "genders", "the genders", "all gender identities", "gender identities", etcetera, how can one include everyone without using those kinds of words? Using "all genders'" and "genders" is very exclusionary as it is omits people from the equation who don't feel like they have a gender identity(s), as well as people with multiple gender identities and or with a fluid gender identity. Utilising "the genders" --- due to the way in which, for example, "the sexes" are used (despite sex and gender being distinct, in my estimation) --- generally only produces thoughts and images of women and men in one's mind, so that is just as bad. For one to deploy "all gender identities" and or "gender identities" is, too, terrible as it sounds rather one-sided and for people who don't believe in transgenderism or who are unsupportive of it, I want them not to feel like they are listening and or reading about a political and or ideological agenda as that may possibly distract them from my message(s) and make them feel excluded as well which I don't want at all. Words like 'several', 'few', 'either', 'either and or', etcetera, are, too, entirely useless.

Any helpful tips?

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    What's wrong with "everyone" or "anyone"?
    – Andrew Leach
    Jan 12, 2019 at 15:07
  • How is all genders any more or less specific than everyone? All genders includes all people and, therefore, everyone. Or are you using it to mean something else? What context are you trying to use the phrase in? Jan 12, 2019 at 16:47
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    Avoid pronouns in third-person singular. Use plurals and names wherever possible. Jan 12, 2019 at 18:16
  • What happens when one's name is unknown? Jan 12, 2019 at 22:28
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    "Everyone", "all", "people", "folk(s)", "this audience", "those attending here", "my readers", "listeners", "friends", "comrades", "members and guests", "local residents", "Canadians", "students", "builders", "those in the medical profession", etc - there's a multitude of gender-neutral terms to choose from. Can I recommend you specify (or give examples of) the context, so that it's easier to answer your question? Jan 12, 2019 at 22:46

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I agree with John Lawler's comment: use everyone or anyone. They are inclusive and simple -- so simple that they don't need a dictionary definition in an ELU answer, and so inclusive that they don't leave anyone out. Oops, now I have defined everyone by using anyone: so, I will include a dictionary definition. Merriam Webster say that everyone means

every person

M-W says anyone means

any person at all

(I am not going to give a dictionary definition of every and any.)

These two words, everyone and anyone are correct and instantly comprehensible. In a comment, the OP says that these two words "don't go down well because of lack of specificity", but that is the nature of a general, all inclusive term.

If the OP is writing a paper, he can give an extended definition once, at the beginning, for what he means by everyone; e.g. all members, without exception, of the species homo sapiens.

The trouble with trying to come up with a word or phrase listing what you mean by everyone for repeated use in a paper or article, is that it will be clumsy -- klugy -- and will interrupt the flow of the paper. Ditto in speech. Moreover, you will leave someone out, and that someone, even if in a class of one, will be offended.

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I agree with the other comments about everyone or anyone, but if you want to specifically address gender, you could say "people of all genders" or "people, regardless of gender,...." as a lead-in and then later use everyone or anyone.

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