To help make OSM more inclusive in line with the diversity statement https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Diversity_Statement I’ve gone through the wiki and changed all relevant instances of specific pronouns to their gender neutral versions. This both encourages inclusivity by including non binary people, and makes the pages easier to understand.

Pages and text that have not been changed are statements by members of the community, talks, personal user pages and other related pages where changing the phrases would reflect directly on someone’s opinion.

This resulted in changes to around ~190 wiki pages, or if you include modified templates, another ~4100 pages. Below is a list of phrases I changed to their gender neutral version.

• he/she
• she/he
• his/her
• her/his
• he or she
• she or he
• his or her
• her or his
• s/he
• him/herself
• her/himself
• him/her
• her/him

I’m surprised at the few recent pages still using he/she type references to people, namely the State Of The Map proposal for Paris 2026, especially after the drama around LGBT people and State Of The Map 2024.


Happy mapping, and I’m glad to help make the community more welcoming and accessable for all. <3
Phoebe