Gender neutral

Gender neutral aka neutral gender is an identity under the nonbinary and transgender umbrellas. Gender neutral individuals have a neutral gender identity or expression, or identify with the preference for gender neutral language and pronouns. This is similar to and often overlaps with the experience of being agender, genderless, or having no gender identity. Neutrois identity is often described as being a neutral gender identity.

Gender neutral

In addition to being a nonbinary identity, "gender neutral" is often used as an adjective to mean "without regard to gender"/"inclusive of any gender"; for example "Alex is a gender neutral name" or "We have a gender neutral restroom".

Etymology

In English, the word "neutral" comes from Middle French neutral (compare modern French neutre), from Latin neutralis. In war and disputes, neutral can mean taking no side in a conflict, being nonaligned or unbiased. In color, neutral means gray, or having no obvious color. In physics, neutral can mean having neither a positive nor negative charge. In biology, neutral can mean neuter, having no physical sex. In grammar, it can mean words that are neither masculine nor feminine, also called neuter or epicene. Gender neutral can mean applicable or available to all genders, or not restricted by gender.

Flag

There is no universally-accepted flag for the gender neutral identity. Below are some of the proposed flags.

• 

  Created in 2016 by deviantArt user enbygsrd.

• 

  Created in 2016 by deviantArt user enbygsrd.

• 

  Unknown creator.

Symbols

These are some symbols that have been used or proposed for neutral gender.

• 

  A neutrois or neuter gender symbol, Unicode U+26B2 ⚲

• 

  A neutrois or neuter symbol. Based on Venus and Mars symbols, without prongs. Unicode U+26AA ⚪

Notable neutral people

Miley Cyrus at 38th People's Choice Awards

Tobia at Microsoft New England Research and Development Center in 2019.

See main article: Notable nonbinary people

There are many more notable people who have a gender identity outside of the binary. The following are only some of those notable people who specifically describe their identities by the name "gender neutral," "neutral gender," "neutral," or an analogous term.

• Miley Cyrus (b. 1992), an American top-charting singer-songwriter, has called themself "a gender-neutral, ­sexually fluid person".
• Lauren Lubin is a filmmaker, activist and athlete. They are the creator of the documentary "We Exist: Beyond the Binary". They are also the first openly nonbinary marathoner to compete internationally. They are gender neutral.
• Jacob Tobia (b. 1991) is an American LGBT rights activist, writer, producer, television host and actor. In 2019, they published their memoir titled Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story. They are the voice actor for a nonbinary character in the Dreamworks animated series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Double Trouble, who also uses they/them pronouns. They are neutral, genderqueer, and gender non-conforming.
• Actor and YouTuber Kaitlyn Alexander is gender neutral.
• Writer and performer Danez Smith is gender neutral.

Neutral characters in fiction

See main article: Nonbinary gender in fiction

There are many more nonbinary characters in fiction who have a gender identity outside of the binary. The following are only some of those characters who are specifically called by the words gender neutral, neutral gender, or neutral, either in their canon, or by their creators.

• In NiGHTS into Dreams the main character "NiGHTS is neutral, and therefore has no gender. The impressions of the character with regards to gender are totally up to the player," according to Takashi Iizuka, the lead designer of the game.

See also

• Agender
• Neutrois
• Gender neutral language
• Androgyny

External links

• Chroanagram: Gender neutral=Genderless?
• Neutrois Nonsense: On the difference between agender, genderless and neutrois
• A Fine Line: J.M. Cottle talks about Genderless identity