Inclusive language

Inclusive language is a language style that avoids expressions that its proponents perceive as expressing or implying ideas that are sexist, racist, or otherwise biased, prejudiced, or insulting to particular group(s) of people; and instead uses language intended to avoid offense and fulfill the ideals of egalitarianism, social inclusion and equity.  

Its supporters argue that language is often used to perpetuate and spread prejudice and that creating intention around using inclusive language can help create more productive, safe, and profitable organizations and societies. The term "political correctness" is sometimes used to refer to this practice, either as a neutral description by supporters, by commentators in general,  or with negative connotations by its opponents. Use of gender-neutral terminology has been controversial in languages where  "all grammar is gendered", such as Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and German; some areas have banned its use.

Inclusive language is usually adopted by following a language guide that lists words and expression not to use and substitutes for them. Language guides are used by many organizations, especially non-profits (at least in the United States).

Scope

Bans on inclusive language
In Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and German, the debate over gender-neutral terminology can be particularly fierce because the majority of grammar is gendered. Unlike English, without such institutions, the authority on the Spanish language is the Royal Spanish Academy, which rejects the inclusive language. The Russian language is "so highly gendered that speakers have to constantly refer to themselves and others by a specific gender".  Other languages such as Chinese, Finnish, and Turkish are innately gender inclusive because they have no grammatical gender.

France
In French, a reference to a mixed-gender group of friends would traditionally be  written as "amis", but a gender-neutral variation changed its spelling to "ami.e.s." However, in May 2021 a decree from the French national government was sent to schools across the country  stating that "so-called 'inclusive' writing should be avoided, which notably uses the midpoint to simultaneously reveal the feminine and masculine forms of a word used in the masculine when it is used in one sense."

Argentina
As of June 2022, the city government of  Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, banned teachers "from using any gender-neutral words during class and in communications with parents", on the grounds that it "violated the rules of Spanish and stymied students' reading comprehension". At least five organizations, "a mix of gay rights and civil rights groups", have filed lawsuits seeking to overturn" the ruling. The governor of Buenos Aires province, Axel Kicillof, rejected the authority of the Royal Spanish Academy, citing the Argentine War of Independence as a reason. Darío Villanueva Prieto, from the RAE, clarified that the RAE does not use the slang of Spanish language from the Iberian peninsula, but that it receives input from all countries in the world where the language is spoken.

Other countries
In December 2021, Uruguay's public education agency declared a  limit on the use of inclusive language to be "in accordance with the rules of the Spanish language".  

As of mid 2022, proposals to ban gender-neutral language in schools or government documents have been advanced "in Peru, some states in Mexico, and in at least 34 municipalities and states in Brazil".

United States
In the United States, inclusive language is used among "some of the country's leading institutions" and involves far more than gender-neutral terminology.
A short list of organizations in the U.S. with equity language guides include The Sierra Club, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Medical Association, National Recreation and Park Association, Columbia University School of Professional Studies, University of Washington. Most of these guides are based on other guides such as A Progressive's Style Guide, the Racial Equity Tools glossary.

Several tech companies promotes or provide inclusive language guides: Google, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco Talos, SAP.

Examples

English
Inclusive language in English, at least in the United States, goes well beyond gender inclusivity, the following with varying levels or usage.

Impact

Inclusion and divisiveness
Political correctness and inclusive language  both focus on attempting to use  neutral terms and expressions to influence psychological and social forces to combat prejudices, stereotypes, etc. However, what may be, and in many cases already has, happened is that while some  markets and audiences embrace the new language,  others react against it (an example being the alleged "War on Christmas"). Whether businesses and organizations embrace or reject the language, they risk alienating the opposing side. Thus inclusive language has become part of "culture wars".

Other concerns
Journalist George Packer makes a number of criticisms of inclusive language as used in the U.S.

Replacing vivid language with jargon, while failing to deliver on its goal of creating empathy.
Packer compares a passage from Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo with the same text rewritten in inclusive language, and asks if equity language does "what it claims to do" -- i.e. create more empathy for Sita and her struggles than Boo does in her language use.

Packer notes that Boo's book was written in 2012 before the new language guidelines emerged, and worries what the new rules will and are doing to good writing. "Shelf upon shelf of great writing might go the way of 'blind' and 'urban'" (both forbidden in language guideline). "Open Light in August or Invisible Man to any page and see how little would survive."

Banning not only offensive language, but more and more harmless words and expressions. 
Using the Sierra Club equity guidelines, Packer notes that it is not just terms like "welfare queen", or expressions like "Jew them down" that are banished, but a very large number of descriptive terms: "urban", "vibrant", "hardworking", "brown bag" (subtly racist) "the poor" (classist), "battle" and "minefield" (disrespectful of veterans), "field" or "fieldwork" (could be associated with slavery), "migrant" (no reason given). Others include "prisoner" (replaced by "a person experiencing the criminal-justice system"), "gentrification", "legal resident", "food stamps", "gun control", "congresswoman", and "expat".

Imprecise.
Replacing "felon" with "justice-involved person" (the San Francisco Board of Supervisors); "fieldwork"  with "practicum" (the Southern California's School of Social Work). Imprecise, unclear language has the advantage of being "less likely to offend", whereas "vivid imagery, strong statements" -- what makes up good writing -- "convey painful truths".

Elitist.
The language guides defend their edicts of inclusive language by arguing language is always changing, "evolving". But inclusive language has not "emerged organically from the shifting linguistic habits of large numbers of people" or even public debate.  Its changes "are handed down in communiqués written by obscure 'experts' who purport to speak for vaguely defined 'communities'". 
And not only do the changes come without any transparent discussion, they come "with a suddenness and frequency that keep the novitiate off-balance".

It's a distinctly American project,  and  serves as a substitute for actual "material forms of progress" to help those it purports to help. 
By toning down (or attempting to tone down) harsh language, inclusive language may make it easier to avoid facing "squarely the wrongs they want to right, which is the starting point for any change".

Increasingly it is being advocated that the language of female reproduction should be desexed, and terms such as "women" and "mothers" avoided in order to be more accommodating of people who identify as transgender. However, it has been identified that avoidance of sexed terms when the sex of the person is relevant risk dehumanisation of women, introduces inaccuracies, and reduces inclusivity by making communications more difficult to understand.

See also
 Bias-free communication
 Gender-neutral language
 People-first language
 Cancel culture
 Color-blind casting
 Euphemism
 List of politically motivated renamings
 Newspeak
 Plain language
 Speech code

References

External links
 Guidelines for Unbiased Language (PDF Table) from APA Style manual
 'Allistic' Cambridge Dictionary

Linguistic controversies
Political terminology
Dysphemisms
Etiquette
Identity politics
Gender-neutral language
Discrimination
Social inclusion