[vintagedave]

Thankyou for the correction, but the singular 'they' has been used in gender-unknown or gender-irrelevant cases for centuries. I was not aware this person was male -- but it did not matter to me. Ie, it matches both points.

My personal feeling is using a more widely applicable pronoun is more respectful, in general, so I use 'they' frequently, especially referring to people I don't know and so where I don't know their identity.

https://www.oed.com/discover/a-brief-history-of-singular-the... is interesting reading.