Wondering how to refer to my sister's daughter now?

[LoveMyPiano]

I always referred to her as my niece - but she is going into a sort of non-gender stage..... Her name is a very neutral one now. But I still cannot stop referring to her (them??) as my niece. Relation/ships are usually gender specific, and a bit hard to avoid using I have found, but I really don't want to offend. It is the "non-gender" bit that is causing me some difficulty.
Help......

Wow…bizarre bigoted put downs won’t change facts and biological reality you know?

Wow; sorry, I had to go out. What an interesting discussion I seem to have prompted without intending to..... Thanks so much for many differing viewpoints - and of course, being me, I am (unnecessarily) overthinking it. But we do have a very fragile and yet complicated relationship, and I don't want to make matters worse. And of course, I personally do believe her to still and always be my niece.....
Whenever I read "neibling", I I think of Leibling, which is I think (?) German for darling, or something like that.

(Not a troll post I promise.)

Yes your daughter is as much of a female as any other female. There is also XXY genotypes that tend to present as male phenotypes, and they are as much male as the rest of the men. But these conditions are pretty rare and not generally relevant in the trans debate. The overwhelming majority of trans people do not have rare generic conditions.

Ask what they would prefer?

She knows she’s a girl. She knows you know it and everyone knows it. And until she’s a boy, she is actually still a girl. Don’t play the mental gymnastics. By not playing this ‘let’s pretend’ you might in some way also help her ‘think through’ her new problem too. In a kind gentle way I mean. Introduce her to logical reasoning and thinking skills by displaying them yourself.

Just use her name? When I’m talking about my grandchildren to someone else in the family, I don’t say ‘my grandchild’. I say their name.
Regardless of that, a niece is a female child of a sibling. So as she is of the female sex, she cannot stop being your niece. Sex is not changeable.

Is this made up? 😂

This.

I saw Sam on Saturday.
I saw Sam, my sister's child, on Saturday.
I saw Ruth's Sam on Saturday.
Our Ruth's Sam came by on Saturday.

Mentioning your sister is actually more to the point than saying niece/nephew because niece/nephew can be any of your or DP's siblings' children.

You do know that you sound quite unhinged, right?

"You have been warned" JFC 🤨

I don't particularly advocate #bekind at all, I think if someone states an opinion and it's clearly derogatory bullshit it should be called out

I do think religion is a significant cause of damage

I do think regardless of being born in the 50s it's no excuse for continuing with beliefs that belong back then if at all

Surprisingly closed minded? Erm ok

Surely they are your niece as their sex is female regardless of their gender?
If your sister was non-binary they would still be your sister because their sex is female even if their gender identity is something else?

All words are made up. Literally all of them.
nibling as a term was coined in the 1950s.

She / her as she has a vagina. Anything else is - pardon the pun - playing along with a load of bollocks.

Just use niece. That’s what she is to you.

Nibling

Ask them. Whatever they like then use that. If it was niece and they don't like that then change it. It's a couple of words to change but could mean a lot to your family

And until she’s a boy, she is actually still a girl

@PicnicBunny

I hope this is a joke.

You know it's impossible for anyone to change sex, right?

What is a real shame is the casual way in which some posters are encouraging this girl, and others, to reject being a girl.

Girls can be, wear and do whatever they want. They are still girls.

Just call her your niece and use the name she was given at birth. This gender crap is a load of nonsense. In my day she'd have been a goth.

Ask your niece and say you want to respect their preferred terms but are they happy if you refer to them as niece or do they have another term?

that way you open dialogue

My DD is non binary. She’s lovely - absolutely easy-going and genuine. What is the “gender crap” nonsense you are referring to?

That’s the problem with gender. There are only 2 body types (vagina or bollocks to use your phrasing) but a whole spectrum of how people feel. Our body types and (English) language aren’t as nuanced as how people feel. We don’t all feel either Wolverine at one end or princess at the other.
But then nor would it make sense for nature to offer half-bollocks or a demi-vag to those mid-way on the spectrum.

Shes still your niece, I'd call her that.

You just misgendered your child. Twice.

It is not! Though I thought the same tbh until I researched it further (think I originally saw it on Facebook), I just think nibling sounds cute so I like using it 😂