History of nonbinary gender: Difference between revisions

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History of nonbinary gender (edit)

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 {{Content warning|<translate><!--T:1--> some troubling events that could be traumatic for some readers. Some historical quotes use language that is now seen as offensive</translate>}}
 <translate><!--T:2-->
-This article on the '''history of nonbinary gender''' should focus on events directly or indirectly concerning people with [[nonbinary]] [[gender identity|gender identities]]. It should not be about [[LGBT]] history in general. However, this history will likely need to give dates for a few events about things other than nonbinary gender, such as major events that increased visibility of [[transgender]] people in general, [[gender variant]] people from early history who may or may not have been what we think of as nonbinary, and laws that concern [[intersex]] people that can also have an effect on the legal rights of nonbinary people.
+Gender variance has a long history [[gender-variant identities worldwide|all around the world]], from the first known records of written language to modern day. What gender variance means and how it's viewed in society has changed throughout history, and the words used to describe it has changed as well; while the word "nonbinary" itself is a relatively new term, the concept itself has existed since ancient times. This page summarizes the history of gender that doesn't fit the [[gender binary|binary]], irrespective of how it's called.
-==Tips== <!--T:3-->
-<!--T:4-->
-Here are some tips for writing respectfully about historical gender variant people whose actual preferred names, pronouns, and gender identities might not be known.
-<!--T:5-->
-* '''Dead names.''' It is disrespectful to call a transgender person by their former name ("dead name") rather than the name that they chose for themself. Some consider their dead name a secret that shouldn't be put in public at all. For living transgender people in particular, this history should show only their chosen names, not their dead names. In this history, some deceased historical transgender persons may have their birth names shown in addition to their chosen names, in cases where it is not known which name they preferred, or where it is otherwise impossible to find information about that person, if one wants to research their history. This should be written in the form of "Chosen Name (née Birth Name)." If history isn't sure which name that person earnestly preferred, write it in the form of "Name, or Other Name."
-<!--T:6-->
-* '''Pronouns.''' It is disrespectful to call a person by pronouns other than those that they ask for. Some historical persons whose preferred pronouns aren't known should be called here by [[Pronouns#No pronouns|no pronouns]]. If this isn't possible, [[Pronouns#They|they]] pronouns.
-<!--T:7-->
-* '''Words for a person's gender, assigned and otherwise.''' It is disrespectful to label a person's gender otherwise than they ask for, but it's not always possible to do so. In the case of some historical people, history has recorded how they lived, and what [[gender assigned at birth|gender they were assigned at birth]], but not how they preferred to label their gender identity. For example, it's not known whether certain historical people who were assigned female at birth ([[AFAB]]) lived as men because they identified as men (were [[transgender men]]), or because it was the only way to have a career in that time and place (and were gender non-conforming [[cisgender women]]). This should be mentioned in the more respectful form of, for example, "assigned male at birth ([[AMAB]]), lived as a woman," rather than "really a man, passed as a woman." For another example, writing "a military doctor discovered Smith was AFAB" is more respectful than saying "a military doctor discovered Smith was really a woman." For people who lived before the word "transgender" was created, it may be more suitable to call them "gender variant" rather than "transgender." On the other hand, if we have enough information about such a person, we may do best by such people by describing them with the terminology that they most likely would have used for their gender identity if they lived in the present day, with our language.
-==Wanted events in this time-line== <!--T:8-->
-<!--T:9-->
-Please help fill out this time-line if you can add information of these kinds:
-* Events in the movement for keeping the genders of babies undisclosed.
-* Events concerning [[nonbinary celebrities]], and historical persons who clearly stated they were neither female nor male, or both, or androgynes, etc.
-* Skim nonbinary blogs looking for past and current historical events.
-* Events that show that transgender and especially nonbinary gender identities existed long before the twentieth century.
-* Changes in the use of gendered versus gender-neutral language.
 ==Antiquity== <!--T:10-->
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 ====2025====
 * January 20: President Trump issues an executive order titled "Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government". This order declares that there are only two sexes and that they are biologically determined "at conception".
+==Tips for writing about historical gender-variant people== <!--T:3-->
+<!--T:4-->
+Here are some tips for writing respectfully about historical gender variant people whose actual preferred names, pronouns, and gender identities might not be known.
+<!--T:5-->
+* '''Dead names.''' It is disrespectful to call a transgender person by their former name ("dead name") rather than the name that they chose for themself. Some consider their dead name a secret that shouldn't be put in public at all. For living transgender people in particular, this history should show only their chosen names, not their dead names. In this history, some deceased historical transgender persons may have their birth names shown in addition to their chosen names, in cases where it is not known which name they preferred, or where it is otherwise impossible to find information about that person, if one wants to research their history. This should be written in the form of "Chosen Name (née Birth Name)." If history isn't sure which name that person earnestly preferred, write it in the form of "Name, or Other Name."
+<!--T:6-->
+* '''Pronouns.''' It is disrespectful to call a person by pronouns other than those that they ask for. Some historical persons whose preferred pronouns aren't known should be called here by [[Pronouns#No pronouns|no pronouns]]. If this isn't possible, [[Pronouns#They|they]] pronouns.
+<!--T:7-->
+* '''Words for a person's gender, assigned and otherwise.''' It is disrespectful to label a person's gender otherwise than they ask for, but it's not always possible to do so. In the case of some historical people, history has recorded how they lived, and what [[gender assigned at birth|gender they were assigned at birth]], but not how they preferred to label their gender identity. For example, it's not known whether certain historical people who were assigned female at birth ([[AFAB]]) lived as men because they identified as men (were [[transgender men]]), or because it was the only way to have a career in that time and place (and were gender non-conforming [[cisgender women]]). This should be mentioned in the more respectful form of, for example, "assigned male at birth ([[AMAB]]), lived as a woman," rather than "really a man, passed as a woman." For another example, writing "a military doctor discovered Smith was AFAB" is more respectful than saying "a military doctor discovered Smith was really a woman." For people who lived before the word "transgender" was created, it may be more suitable to call them "gender variant" rather than "transgender." On the other hand, if we have enough information about such a person, we may do best by such people by describing them with the terminology that they most likely would have used for their gender identity if they lived in the present day, with our language.
 ==Further reading== <!--T:79-->