In grammar, an antecedent refers to a word or multiple words in the case of compound antecedents that can be replaced by a pronoun such as him, them or her in a sentence as the noun makes reference to the antecedent that is placed before the noun. Additionally, the antecedent and the noun that replace it need to agree on number and genre. For example in the sentence "Maria cannot find her book" the antecedent is "Maria" and the pronoun that replaces it is "her", which agrees in gender as "Maria" and "her" are both feminine and singular.
This means in the case of using "Male and females" as an antecedent in a sentence, this compound antecedent can be replaced or referenced by the pronoun "them" as this pronoun is plural and can be either feminine or masculine for example the sentence "Male and females are both capable of the same things and therefore equal right should be guaranteed to them" uses the antecedent and pronoun "them" correctly. Therefore, it is true "male and females" could be a compound antecedent referenced by the plural pronoun them.
