Nonbinary: Difference between revisions

'''Nonbinary''' (also spelled '''non-binary''')<ref>"Gender Census 2018 - the spelling question." ''Gender Census.'' April 22, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2020. http://gendercensus.com/post/173182166480/gender-census-2018-the-spelling-question</ref> means any [[gender identity]] that is not strictly male or female all the time, and so does not fit within the [[gender binary]]. For some people, "non-binary" is as specific as they want to get about labeling their gender. For others, they call themselves a more specific gender identity under the non-binary umbrella. Many people who call themselves nonbinary also consider themselves [[genderqueer]]. However, the terms have different meanings and connotations: genderqueer means any gender identity or [[gender expression|expression]] which is, itself, queer.

Non-binary falls under the umbrella term of [[transgender]] (meaning a [[gender identity]] different than one's [[sex assigned at birth]]). However, for various reasons, individual non-binary people may or may not consider themselves transgender.<ref name="Darwin2020">{{cite journal|last1=Darwin|first1=Helana|title=Challenging the Cisgender/Transgender Binary: Nonbinary People and the Transgender Label|journal=Gender & Society|volume=34|issue=3|year=2020|pages=357–380|issn=0891-2432|doi=10.1177/0891243220912256}}</ref>

There are many other historical events about genders outside the binary, which have existed for all of written history, going back to Sumerian and Akkadian tablets from 2nd millennium BCE and 1700 BCE,<ref>Murray, Stephen O., and Roscoe, Will (1997). ''Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature.'' New York: New York University Press.</ref><ref>Nissinen, Martti (1998). ''Homoeroticism in the Biblical World'', Translated by Kirsi Stjedna. Fortress Press (November 1998) p. 30. ISBN|0-8006-2985-X<br>See also: Maul, S. M. (1992). ''Kurgarrû und assinnu und ihr Stand in der babylonischen Gesellschaft.'' Pp. 159–71 in Aussenseiter und Randgruppen. Konstanze Althistorische Vorträge und Forschungern 32. Edited by V. Haas. Konstanz: Universitätsverlag.</ref><ref>Leick, Gwendolyn (1994). ''Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature''. Routledge. New York.</ref> and ancient Egyptian writings from 2000-1800 BCE.<ref>Sethe, Kurt, (1926), ''Die Aechtung feindlicher Fürsten, Völker und Dinge auf altägyptischen Tongefäßscherben des mittleren Reiches,'' in: Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 1926, p. 61.</ref><ref>Sandra  Stewart. "Egyptian third gender." http://www.gendertree.com/Egyptian%20third%20gender.htm</ref> This section focuses only on historical events about people who call themselves by the word "non-binary."

The editors of this wiki have not yet found the earliest recorded use of "non-binary" as a self-identity label. It appears to have been in use during the first decade of the 2000s.

In 2013, a user of the social media site Tumblr coined an abbreviation of non-binary or N.B., "enby." This word and how people have come to use it is discussed below.<ref name="enby cassolotl">[https://cassolotl.tumblr.com/post/620371385484722176 @cassolotl] on Tumblr (September 2013)</ref><ref name="enby revolutionator">vector (revolutionator). ''[http://revolutionator.tumblr.com/post/60853952929/i-wish-there-was-an-nb-equivalent-to-words-like Untitled post]'', September 2013. revolutionator's blog is password-protected, but the post has been reblogged many times, eg: [http://adventuresingender.tumblr.com/post/60940278905/revolutionator-i-wish-there-was-an-nb here], date unknown, captured April 2016.</ref><ref name="enby archeart">{{Cite web |title=Queer Etymology: Enby |author= |work=Androgyne of the Archeart |date=16 December 2019 |access-date=20 September 2020 |url= https://blog.sixy.name/2020/09/20/queer-etymology-enby/}}</ref>

In 2014, Kye Rowan designed the non-binary flag in response to a call put out for a non-binary flag that was separate from the genderqueer flag, the final design is shown at the top of this article.<ref>"genderweird".  https://web.archive.org/web/20191227195608/https://thejasmineelf.tumblr.com/post/77007286542/after-counting-up-all-the-votes-for-each. 2019-12-27. Retrieved 2020-11-24.</ref><ref>"genderweird". https://web.archive.org/web/20190604080020/https://thejasmineelf.tumblr.com/flagfaq. 2019-06-04. Retrieved 2020-11-24.</ref><ref>"genderweird". https://web.archive.org/web/20190604080022/https://thejasmineelf.tumblr.com/post/76929910941/a-call-was-put-out-for-a-nonbinary-flag-that-is. 2019-06-04. Retrieved 2020-11-24.</ref> This flag is meant to "represent non-binary folk who did not feel that the [[genderqueer flag]] represented them. This flag was intended to go alongside Marilyn Roxie's genderqueer flag rather than replace it. The flag consists of four stripes. From top to bottom: yellow represents those whose gender exists outside of and without reference to the binary as yellow is often used to distinguish something as its own. White represents those who have many or all genders, as white is the photological presence of color and/or light. The purple stripe represents those who feel their gender is between or a mix of female and male as purple is the mix of traditional boy and girl colors. The purple also could be seen as representing the fluidity and uniqueness of non-binary people. The final black stripe represents those who feel they are without gender, as black is the photological absence of color and/or light." The non-binary flag and the genderqueer flag are both options for nonbinary people to use to symbolize themselves, and take different approaches to how to symbolize non-binary genders.

In 2014, the social media site Facebook began to allow users to set their profiles as any of 56 genders, one of which was called "non-binary."<ref>Eve Shapiro, ''Gender circuits: Bodies and identities in a technological age.'' Unpaged.</ref>

In 2017, in the USA, the state of California passed the [[2017 Gender Recognition Act]] "to ensure that intersex, transgender, and non-binary people have state-issued identification documents that provide full legal [[Recognition (USA)|recognition]] of their accurate gender identity."<ref name="Bermudez">{{Cite web |title=California’s Gender Recognition Act and Impact on Employers - Klinedinst |last=Bermudez |first=Nadia P. |work=Klinedinst Attorneys |date=November 8, 2017 |access-date=May 14, 2020 |url= https://klinedinstlaw.com/employment-law/california-gender-recognition-act-impact-employers}}</ref><ref name="SB179">{{Cite web |title=Fact Sheet: California's Gender Recognition Act (SB 179) |author=Transgender Law Center |work= |date=2018 |access-date=May 14, 2020 |url= https://transgenderlawcenter.org/resources/id/ca-sb179}}</ref>

In 2018, in the USA, Washington state began to allow "X" gender markers on official documents<ref name="Jackman">{{Cite web |title=Washington to recognise third gender in groundbreaking move |last=Jackman |first=Josh |work=PinkNews |date=5 January 2018 |access-date=14 May 2020 |url= https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/01/05/washington-to-recognise-third-gender-in-groundbreaking-move/}}</ref>, with the law stating that {{quote|"X" means a gender that is not exclusively male or female, including, but not limited to, [[intersex]], [[agender]], [[amalgagender]], [[androgynous]], [[bigender]], [[demigender]], female-to-male, [[genderfluid]], [[genderqueer]], male-to-female, [[neutrois]], [[nonbinary]], [[pangender]], [[third gender|third sex]], [[transgender]], [[transsexual]], [[Two Spirit]], and unspecified.<ref name="washington">{{Cite web |title=WAC 246-490-075: Changing sex designation on a birth certificate. |author= |work=Washington State Legislature |date= |access-date=14 May 2020 |url= https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=246-490-075}}</ref>}} Also in 2018, well-known cartoonist and songwriter [[Rebecca Sugar]] came out as a non-binary woman.

The word ''enby'' (plural ''enbies'', derived from "N.B.," the initialism of "non-binary") is a common noun meaning "non-binary person." It was coined by Tumblr user vector (revolutionator) in 2013 as the non-binary common noun equivalent of "boy" or "girl."<ref name="enby cassolotl" /><ref name="enby revolutionator" /><ref name="enby archeart" /> Due to that wording, some non-binary people question whether it can also be used as a non-binary common noun equivalent of "man" or "woman." The 2020 Gender Census shows that older non-binary people less often call themselves enbies.<ref name="GC20-enby">{{Cite web|url=https://gendercensus.com/post/620965788841558016/on-enby-and-age|title=On “enby” and age|last1=Cassolotl|first1=|date=15 June 2020|website=Gender Census|access-date=15 June 2020}}</ref>

==Non-binary identities== <!--T:99-->  

Some of the more common identities under the non-binary umbrella include:

*'''Non-binary''' means any gender outside the gender binary. That is, any identity which is not solely male or female all the time. Though there are many kinds of non-binary identities, many people use this as the only name for their gender.<ref name="2019 Gender Census" />

==Non-binary expression== <!--T:110-->  

There is not one right way to perform a non-binary gender. Most non-binary people are primarily motivated to do what feels comfortable and true to themselves, rather than attempting to follow any particular gender role. Whichever way any particular non-binary person needs or chooses to present, express, or perform their gender is as valid as any other.  

Non-binary people may or may not experience [[gender dysphoria]], or may experience only bodily or social dysphoria. Some non-binary people choose to [[transition]] by making social and physical changes that suit them better. Other non-binary people do not make life changes that they see as part of the transition narrative. Some feel that there is no social role or body to "transition" to, and so simply focus on being themselves. Some non-binary people choose or need to present an [[Androgyny|androgynous]] or [[gender neutral]] gender expression, and others do not. Some non-binary people wear [[clothing]] that could be seen as [[crossdressing]], and some non-binary people do not. Some non-binary people prefer to be referred to using [[gender neutral language]], [[gender neutral titles|titles]], and [[pronouns]]. Other non-binary people are comfortable with being called by gendered language.  

All of these are completely individual choices based on what any one non-binary person personally feels they want to, need to, or must do in order to feel more comfortable and more like themselves.

== Notable non-binary people == <!--T:114-->