I call in a community where the majority of callers use ladies/gents
terminology, and I am pushing the envelope by using positional calling. We
also have a caller who occasionally visits from elsewhere who routinely
uses larks/robins and probably would choose not to come at all if they had
to use ladies/gents. I think Don's point makes sense in communities where
this has been a contentious issue. But here, nearly all dancers seem to be
willing to roll with whatever as long as the calling is good quality.
Organizers stepping in and making an across-the-board decision that
enforces terminology would probably stifle the process of innovation,
rather than encouraging it.
David