Most people will never have a reason to consult the Associated Press Stylebook, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be influenced by it: plenty of reporters follow its guidance, and that filter through to what appears in print and online every day.

Though the AP often says it’s just following the direction the language is taking, politics obviously plays a role. In 2013 the AP dropped “illegal immigrant” from its Stylebook and adopted a more nuanced and CAIR-approved definition of “Islamist.”

This year, the AP is taking some baby steps toward contemporary sexuality and gender by adding Q to LGBT and allowing the use of “they” as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun to take the place of the binary “he or she.”

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The AP is getting credit for being kind of woke, but it acknowledges that a lot of people use “they” anyway because it’s less awkward than “he or she,” and it also stops short of adopting pronouns like “xe” or “ze.”

Blame the AP for brainwashing the public for so long with gender binary terms like he and she.

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