List of nonbinary identities

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This alphabetical list of some of the more common nonbinary identities lists many gender identities that are nonbinary. That is, those other than just female and male identities, which are the binary genders. This list gives names for nonbinary identities in English-speaking cultures, as well as those that are part of other cultures. (For the latter, please never use a word for your gender that belongs only to a culture or ethnic group that is not yours.) Some of these words for nonbinary genders have been used in writing for thousands of years. Meanwhile, some of these words were created more recently. This page lists fewer of the older gender-variant identities than the new ones, because it can be harder to say whether it's accurate to put those in the category of "nonbinary." See also List of uncommon nonbinary identities.

A

Shown here live at Øyafestivalen 2013, Raeen Roes, better known by their stage name Angel Haze, is a well known agender rapper, as they announced via twitter in February 2015.
  • agender. 1. Some who call themselves agender have no gender identity (genderless). 2. Some who call themselves agender have a gender identity, which isn't female or male, but neutral.[1]
  • agenderflux. Coined by perfectlybrokenbones in 2014. "Where you identify as agender but have fluctuations where you feel feminine or masculine but not male or female".[1]
  • androgyne. This word is used for a wide variety of gender nonconforming and non-binary gender identities and gender expressions.[1]
  • aporagender. Coined in 2014, from Greek ἀπό (apó; denotes separation, departure, origin, &c.) + "gender".[2] A nonbinary gender identity and umbrella term for "a gender separate from male, female, and anything in between while still having a very strong and specific gendered feeling" (that is, not an absence of gender).[3][1]

B

  • bigender, or bi-gender.[1] A bigender person feels they have two gender identities,[4] at the same time, or at different times.[5] A bigender person may move between their gender expressions based on their situation or their feelings.[4] These two genders might be female and male, or they might be a different pair of genders.
  • butch.[1] Butch is a queer masculine identity[4] that began in working-class lesbian bar culture in the 1940s and 50s.[6][7] A butch of the 1950s onward and trans[8] person hirself,[9] Leslie Feinberg defines butch as a category of gender identity itself, neither male nor female. Butch is genderqueer.[10] The mid-20th century roles of queer butch-femme couples[4] are not an imitation of heterosexuality.[11] Masculinity or butchness is neither the same as nor an imitation of manhood. As one trans man put it, the butch lesbian women he knew "were much more butch than me. But I was much more male than they were."[12] Though butch most often means a lesbian woman,[4] not all are. Queer theorist Jack Halberstam defines the indefinability of butch: "The butch is neither cis-gender nor simply transgender [...] Butch is always a misnomer-- not male, not female, masculine but not male, female but not feminine".[13] Butch is a diverse category. Some people choose to call themselves butch.[4] Notable people who call themselves butch as an identity outside the gender binary include writer Ivan E. Coyote,[14][15][16] comedian Kelli Dunham,[17] and social worker Sonalee Rashatwar.[18]

D

  • demiboy. A gender identity that expresses both male identity and Agender identity, or both male and genderless.[19][1]
  • demigender.[1] An umbrella term for nonbinary gender identities that have a partial connection to a certain gender.
  • demigirl.[1] A gender identity that expresses both female identity and Agender identity, or both female and genderless.[20]

E

  • enby.[1] Created in 2013 by a non-binary person named vector (revolutionator).[21] Based on an initialism of "non-binary," "NB". A common noun for a person with a non-binary gender identity. This is the nonbinary gender equivalent of the common nouns "boy" or "girl." Plural: enbies.

F

Fa'afafine banner at the Auckland pride parade in 2016.
  • fa'afafine. In Samoa, the Fa'afafine are people who were assigned male at birth, have a feminine gender expression, and don't think of themselves as female or male.[22]
  • femme.[1] This term has its origins on lesbian people and is mostly used by lesbian women. However, some nonbinary or genderqueer people are known to use this term as well.

G

Asia's first genderqueer pride parade in Madurai, 2012. The genderqueer flag can be seen here, with stripes of purple, white, and green.


  • genderfluid, or gender-fluid.[1] A gender identity that often changes, so that a person may feel one day like a boy, and another day like a girl, but genderfluidity is not limited to being only male and female. Fluid gender.
  • genderflux.[1] Coined by deergoths in 2014. "Genderflux means that your internal sense of how gendered you are varies over time. One day, you might feel really gendered, and the next day, you might have a very weak feeling of gender, or not feel like any gender at all. Whereas genderfluidity is a shift between different genders, genderflux is more like varying intensity." A gender identity that often changes in intensity, so that a person may feel one day as though they have almost no gender, or none at all, and another day they feel very gendered.
  • genderfuck. A gender identity or expression that is intently outside of any binary, and may use expression to subvert cultural norms.
  • genderless.[1] Having no gender identity. Syn. agender.
  • gender neutral.[1] 1. That which has nothing to do with gender, or is inclusive of any gender. 2. Having no gender identity; agender. 3. Having a gender identity that is neutral: not female, not male, not a mix; compare neutrois.
  • genderqueer[1] is a non-normative gender identity or expression. This can be an umbrella term, or a specific identity.
  • gendervoid.[1] Coined by Baaphomett in 2014. "A gender consisting of the void (also/originally used to mean the same thing as genderless)."

H

A Pakistani hijra at a protest between two hijra groups from Islamabad and Rawalpindi. 2008.
  • hijra. In south Asian countries including India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the Hijra are people who were assigned male at birth, who have a feminine gender expression. This is a very ancient tradition. Today, Hijra are legally recognized as a gender other than female or male.[23][24][25][26][27][28]

M

  • māhū. In Hawaii, in the Kanaka Maoli society, the māhū is a nonbinary gender role, made of people who may have been assigned either male or female at birth. This tradition existed before Western invaders, and survives today.[29]
  • maverique.[1] Coined by Vesper H. (queerascat) in 2014. A specific nonbinary gender identity "characterized by autonomy and inner conviction regarding a sense of self that is entirely independent of male/masculinity, female/femininity or anything which derives from the two while still being neither without gender nor of a neutral gender."[30]


N

Photograph taken during the Paris Gay Pride March in 2016. The banner is printed with the colors of the nonbinary flag. The big letters say "My gender is nonbinary," with dozens of names of specific nonbinary identities listed in smaller letters in the background.
  • neutrois.[1] Coined by a neutrois person named H. A. Burnham in 1995.[31] Having one non-binary gender identity that is neutral. Not female, not male, and not a mix. Some neutrois people are transsexual, experience gender dysphoria, and want to get a physical transition.[32]
  • nonbinary[1] is an umbrella term for all who don't identify as just female or male. Though there are many kinds of nonbinary gender identities, some people identify as "nonbinary" only.
  • non-gendered. An identity brought to the fore by Christie Elan-Cane since at least 2000.[33] Having no gender.
  • neurogender. Coined by aflutteringlaney. "A gender feeling that is strongly linked to one’s status as neurodivergent. Note: obviously, only for use by neurodivergent people; can be used as an umbrella term for other neurodivergent-related genders."[34][35] Keywords: neurodiversity, mental variation, mental disorder, autism spectrum disorder.

P

  • polygender.[1] Having several gender identities, particularly four or more of them. This can mean at different times, or at the same time.[36]
  • pangender (from Greek πᾶν/pân "all, the whole"). A pangender person is a person who considers themselves as a member of all genders.[37]

Q

Pride marchers carrying a banner that says "Queer is hot, war is not." Twin Cities, 2013.
  • queer.[1] A reclaimed slur for the LGBT+ community, and an umbrella term for identities that are not heterosexual and/or not cisgender. Some people use this as the name for their nonbinary gender identity.[citation needed]

S

  • stargender. A gender identity that is described as a feeling of an otherwordly, non-human gender. This term falls under the broader category of xenogender. It exists on a separate axis from the binary genders male or female, and as such cannot be defined in relation to these terms.

T

Two-spirited pride marchers at San Francisco Pride 2014.
  • transfeminine.[1] A transgender person who transitions in a feminine direction, but who doesn't necessarily identify as female. They may have a non-binary gender identity.
  • transgender[1] is an umbrella term that refers to people whose identity differs from their assigned gender at birth. Some nonbinary people also use this word to talk about their identity.
  • transmasculine.[1] A transgender person who transitions in a masculine direction, but who doesn't necessarily identify as male. They may have a non-binary gender identity.
  • Two-spirit. "Berdache" was an old word used by European-American anthropologists as an umbrella term for LGBT identities (including those noted as nonbinary gender roles) in hundreds of cultures throughout North and South America. The term was internationally replaced by Two-Spirit in 1990 at an Indigenous lesbian and gay international gathering.[38][39] Both terms should only be used in reference to people who are Native American.

X

  • xenogender. Coined by Baaphomett in 2014. "A gender that cannot be contained by human understandings of gender; more concerned with crafting other methods of gender categorization and hierarchy such as those relating to animals, plants, or other creatures/things."[40] An umbrella term for many nonbinary gender identities defined in reference to very different ideas than female or male.
  • X-gender (Xジェンダー, ekkusujendā). In Japan, this is a common transgender identity that isn't female or male, much as the words "genderqueer" and "nonbinary" has come to be in the English-speaking world, to such a degree that X-gender is typically used as a translation for these.[41]

See also

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 NB/GQ Survey 2016 - the worldwide results, March 2016.
  2. Anonymous asked: "could I ask the etymology of the prefix apora- ?", posted October 2014.
  3. Aporagender, date unknown, captured April 2016.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Laura Erickson-Schroth, ed. Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community. Oxford University Press, 2014. P. 612.
  5. Schneider, M., et al, American Psychological Association, APA Task Force on Gender Identity, Gender Variance, and Intersex Conditions, 2008 Answers to Your Questions About Transgender People, Gender Identity, And Gender Expression (PDF), date unknown, captured April 2016.
  6. Levitt, Heidi (February 2003). "The Misunderstood Gender: A Model of Modern Femme Identity". Sex Roles. 48 (3/4): 99–113. doi:10.1023/A:1022453304384. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  7. Kennedy, Elizabeth Lapovsky; Madeline D. Davis (1993). Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community. New York: Routledge. pp. 82–86. ISBN 0-415-90293-2.
  8. Leslie Feinberg, Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to RuPaul. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996. p. x.
  9. Tyroler, Jamie (July 28, 2006). "Transmissions – Interview with Leslie Feinberg". CampCK.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  10. Clarke, Deborah (2011). "Gender and the Novel". The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction. Blackwell Publishing. Retrieved 31 July 2017. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  11. Jack Halberstam, Female Masculinity, Durham: Duke University, 2018. p. 122.
  12. Henry Rubin, Self-Made Men: Identity and Embodiment Among Transsexual Men. Vanderbilt University Press, 2003. P. 24.
  13. Jack Halberstam, Female Masculinity, Durham: Duke University, 2018. p. xi.
  14. Why we need gender-neutral bathrooms, Ivan Coyote, November 2015
  15. "Gender Landmines: Trans Masculinities, Femininities, and Binaries: A Review of Ivan Coyote and Rae Spoon's Gender Failure". Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  16. https://abcbookworld.com/writer/coyote-ivan-e/
  17. Guerrero, Desirée (21 April 2020). "Genderqueer Comic Kelli Dunham On Getting (Thee) Away From a Nunnery". The Advocate. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  18. https://www.instagram.com/thefatsextherapist/
  19. Definitions Master List, asexualityorg proboards, posted August 2012, captured April 2016.
  20. AVEN: Definitions Master List
  21. vector (revolutionator). Untitled post, September 2013. revolutionator's blog is password-protected, but the post has been reblogged many times, eg: here, date unknown, captured April 2016.
  22. William Kremer (18 February 2014). "The evolutionary puzzle of homosexuality". BBC News. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  23. Reddy, Gayatri, With Respect to Sex: Negotiating Hijra Identity in South India, 310 pp., University of Chicago Press, 2005 ISBN 0-226-70755-5 (see p. 8)
  24. "India's third gender gets own identity in voter rolls", Harmeet Shah Singh, CNN.com, Nov. 2009
  25. Mitch Kellaway. "Trans Indian's Predicament at Border Shows the U.S. Lags Behind." May 9, 2015. Advocate. http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/05/09/trans-indian-womans-predicament-border-shows-us-lags-behind
  26. "Pakistan Recognizes Third Gender", Ria Misra, Politics Daily, Dec. 2009
  27. "Hijras now a separate gender", Mohosinul Karim, Dhaka Tribune, Nov. 2013
  28. http://www.attn.com/stories/868/transgender-passport-status
  29. The men-women of the Pacific, tate.org.uk/Tate Britain, archive URL 6 March 2015.
  30. maverique, Vesper H. (queerascat), June 2014, captured April 2016.
  31. Axey, Qwill, Rave, and Luscious Daniel, eds. “FAQ.” Neutrois Outpost. Last updated 2000-11-23. Retrieved 2001-03-07. [1]
  32. Define, Neutrois Nonsense, date unknown, captured April 2016.
  33. The Fallacy of the Myth of Gender, Christie Elan-Cane, USA and London Gendys Conference, 2000 [2]
  34. http://mogai-archive.tumblr.com/post/93322230224/neurogender
  35. http://pridearchive.tumblr.com/post/94634525826/neurogender-pride
  36. http://web.archive.org/web/20161015190830/http://polygender.co.uk/polygenfaq.htm
  37. http://gender.wikia.com/wiki/Pangender
  38. "Two Spirit 101" at NativeOut. Accessed 23 Sep 2015
  39. Eve Shapiro, Gender circuits: Bodies and identities in a technological age. Unpaged.
  40. "Masterpost of genders coined by Baaphomett." 2014. MOGAI Archive. [3]
  41. Marilyn Roxie. "Selected links on nonbinary gender in Japan." March 28, 2013. http://genderqueerid.com/post/46526429887/selected-links-on-non-binary-gender-in-japan