(282) Proposal to amend Article 60 Note 4 by specifying possible options of the grammatical gender and number of epithets honouring certain non‐binary persons

Abstract

Article 60.8 of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Turland & al. in Regnum Veg. 159. 2018) explains the terminations of specific and infraspecific epithets derived from personal names; in particular, the grammatical gender-determined terminations applied depending on the gender of a person. However, the epithets mentioned in this Article refer only to persons of either the male or female gender. I consider such an approach as not covering all currently recognized gender identities. In particular, it does not take into account non-binary people whose gender identities are beyond the binary gender system (e.g. Matsuno & Budge in Curr. Sex. Health Rep. 9: 116–120. 2017; see also https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/Main_Page, accessed 22 Mar 2023). Non-binary (also nonbinary) is an umbrella term encompassing several categories of social gender identities falling outside the traditional sociobiological binary gender framework, including persons whose gender identity falls between or outside the basic biological male and female identities, persons who experience being male or female at separate times, and persons who do not experience having a gender identity or reject having a gender identity. It is advisable to use people's preferred pronouns and grammatical gender identifiers (in addition to names and terms for gender). For example, some non-binary people use they/their/them/themselves in singular or have explicitly developed neutral pronouns (also sometimes termed neopronouns), such as xe/xyr/xem/xyrself or ze/zir/zem/zirs, rather than he/his/him/himself or she/her/her/herself (Richards & al. in Int. Rev. Psychiatry 28: 95–102. 2016; Hekanaho in Neuphilol. Mitteilungen 121: 498–509. 2020). The first person in Australia in 2003 and the first person in the United States in 2016 obtained legal recognition of their non-binary gender. Therefore, I propose to amend Art. 60 Note 4. “Note 4. If the gender and/or number of a substantival epithet derived from a personal name is/are inappropriate for the gender and/or number of the person(s) whom the name commemorates, the termination is to be corrected in conformity with Art. 60.8. However, the grammatical gender used for a person whom the epithet commemorates may be determined by the preferred gender identity of that person. Also, an epithet honouring a non-binary person in some cases may be created by adding -iorum, -iarum, or another indicator of grammatical plurality.” The proposed amendment will not affect the stability of existing nomenclature but will provide for the future an option of forming epithets of scientific names of organisms with due consideration of the gender identities and rights of non-binary people. I am grateful to Nicholas J. Turland (Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany) and John H. Wiersema (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.) for their useful comments and editing. Sergei L. Mosyakin (M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine) also provided his comments and advice.