Editing Maria Munir

{{Infobox person
| picture=Maria Munir.jpg
| caption=Munir in 2018
| date_birth=
| place_birth=Watford, UK
| nationality=British
| pronouns=[[they/them]]<ref name="challenging">{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/maria-munir/maria-munir-non-binary-obama_b_9854838.html|title=Challenging Obama Was My Greatest Challenge|date=2016-05-06|work=HuffPost UK|access-date=2018-05-20|language=en-GB}}</ref>
| gender=
| occupation=public speaker/activist
| known_for=
}}

'''Maria Munir''' is a public speaker and human rights defender who speaks out on a range of discrimination issues, including transgender rights and [[Discrimination against nonbinary gender people|nonbinary discrimination]]. 

In April 2016, Munir [[Coming out|came out]] as nonbinary on live television at a question and answer session with former US President Barack Obama during his state visit to the United Kingdom. The decision to declare their nonbinary identity publicly gained significant media discussion of [[nonbinary rights]] and Munir was interviewed about their views on the subject by The Guardian, Channel 4, The Telegraph and others.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/27/why-i-came-out-as-non-binary-to-barack-obama/|title=Why I came out as non-binary to Barack Obama|last=Munir|first=Maria|date=2016-04-27|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2018-05-20|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/24/now-or-never-says-student-who-came-out-as-non-binary-to-obama|title=I thought it's now or never, says student who came out as non-binary to Obama|first=Nadia|last=Khomami|date=24 April 2016|work=The Guardian|accessdate=21 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Channel 4 News|title=Maria Munir on life in non-binary|date=2016-04-23|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1-L3UKIj50|access-date=2018-07-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/transgender-non-binary-lgbtq-gender-equality-obama-a6997866.html|title=Transgender campaigner calls out Barack Obama on LGBTQ progress|work=The Independent|access-date=2018-07-25|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/04/23/obama-talks-diplomacy-social-change-at-london-youth-town-hall.html|title=Obama hears youth leaders' concerns about LGBT rights, Brexit at British town hall|work=The Star|access-date=2018-07-25|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/brave-gender-equality-campaigner-breaks-7816140|title=Brave gender equality campaigner reveals deeply personal secret to Barack Obama|last=Mullin|first=Gemma|date=2016-04-23|work=mirror|access-date=2018-07-25}}</ref>

Munir has campaigned so that the UK Equality Act 2010 extend its provisions to nonbinary individuals. Approximately 250,000 people are not recognized by this act.<ref name="shortlisted">{{Cite news|url=http://www.nouse.co.uk/2016/10/22/york-student-shortlisted-for-human-rights-award/|title=York student shortlisted for human rights award|last=Banks|first=Elliott|date=2016-10-22|work=Nouse|access-date=2018-05-20|language=en-US}}</ref>

Munir was born with unilateral [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_palsy facial palsy] across the left side of their face.<ref name="challenging"/> They created a poster campaign highlighting the symptoms of facial palsy,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fixers.org.uk/news/11699-11208/facial-palsy-awareness.php|title=Facial Palsy Awareness|website=www.fixers.org.uk|access-date=2018-05-21}}</ref> and worked with Fixers UK to broadcast a segment on the television program ''Calendar'' on ITV Tyne Tees about the effects of the condition,<ref>{{Citation|last=Fixers UK|title=Fixers Facial Palsy Story on ITV News Calendar, June 2014|date=2014-06-06|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf-1xp25nt4|accessdate=2018-05-21}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Fixers UK|title=Fixers Facial Palsy Story on ITV News Tyne Tees, June 2014|date=2014-06-23|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E-mym_CYuI|accessdate=2018-05-21}}</ref> and addressed a conference of the Royal Society of Medicine in October 2015, to an audience of paediatricians and other professionals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsm.ac.uk/events/events-listing/2015-2016/sections/paediatrics-child-health-section/pdg02-patients-and-families-as-the-new-educators.aspx|title=Patients and families as the new educators|website=www.rsm.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-05-21}}</ref>

==Political career==
Munir has been an active member of the Liberal Democrats, standing as a council candidate in their home town of Watford in the 2016 Watford Borough Council election. They stood in the Vicarage ward, a Labour Party stronghold, coming fourth with 279 votes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.watford.gov.uk/info/20248/elections_and_voting/515/elections_results/8|title=Watford Borough Ward 2016 results|website=www.watford.gov.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-05-21}}</ref> Munir campaigned for Sal Brinton's election as the Party Chair,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://salbrinton.co.uk/en/page/supporters|title=Supporters|work=Sal Brinton|access-date=2018-05-21|language=en-GB}}</ref> and co-wrote the ''Your Liberal Britain'' strategy for the Liberal Democrats in September 2017 with Elaine Bagshaw, Duncan Brack, Rory Freckleton, Lee Howgate, Scott Smith, and Stephen Tall.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://liberalbritain.org/vision-statement/|title=Writing our Vision Statement {{!}} Your Liberal Britain|website=liberalbritain.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-05-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.markpack.org.uk/files/2017/09/Your-Liberal-Britain-vision-statement-for-the-Liberal-Democrats.pdf|title=Your Liberal Britain: Your Vision for Liberal Britain|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-01-15}}</ref>

== Awards ==
In 2016 Munir was shortlisted for the Christine Jackson award by the advocacy group Liberty for their work highlighting the inequality which exists in UK law relating to nonbinary people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/human-rights-awards-2016-shortlist|title=Human Rights Awards 2016: Shortlist|last=sarahdaly|date=2016-10-13|website=Liberty Human Rights|language=en|access-date=2018-05-21}}</ref><ref name="shortlisted"/> They were also named as one of 8 Girls' Champions as part of the BBC's 100 Women series.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.libdemvoice.org/maria-munir-chosen-as-girls-champion-for-bbcs-100-women-52605.html|title=Maria Munir chosen as Girls’ Champion for BBC’s 100 Women|work=Liberal Democrat Voice|access-date=2018-07-25|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://mariamunir.com/about/|title=About|date=2014-05-26|work=Maria Munir|access-date=2018-07-25|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Links==
*[https://mariamunir.com/ Website]
*[http://www.twitter.com/Maria_Munir Twitter]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category: Activists]]
[[Category: Nonbinary people]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munir, Maria}}