Portuguese Speakers and Nonbinary Forms: What Do Participants' Justifications Reveal About Their Linguistic Attitudes?

Abstract

This study investigates the attitudes of Portuguese speakers toward the use of nonbinary forms (e.g., amigues), focusing on the morpheme -e as a nonbinary gender marker. It constitutes the qualitative stage of a broader research project, complementary to a previous quantitative study on the comprehension, acceptance, and usage of these forms (OSBORNE; FRANGIOTTI, 2025). Based on the discursive responses of 249 participants from 14 countries to an open-ended question in an online questionnaire, thematic analysis (BRAUN; CLARKE, 2006) was applied to identify the thoughts, feelings and behaviors underlying the positions expressed. The data were coded with the aid of MAXQDA software, and the statistical analyses were conducted using R software. The results reveal a predominance of positive attitudes (57.1%) toward nonbinary forms, supported by linguistic and social arguments, although some positive responses present caveats related to habit, communicative context, or expectations of diffusion. Negative attitudes (28.6%), in turn, mobilize conceptions regarding the nonexistence or ungrammaticality of the forms, the sufficiency of the generic masculine, and sociopolitical positionings. Gender and age were also found to be statistically significant and independent predictors of attitude type, with younger and female participants showing greater acceptance of nonbinary forms. The findings show that linguistic attitudes constitute a multidimensional phenomenon, in which positive evaluation and usage do not necessarily coincide, reinforcing the relevance of research for informing the debate on language and gender diversity in Portuguese.