Nonbinary gender in fiction: Difference between revisions

*''River of Gods'' and ''Cyberabad Days'' by Ian McDonald - India, 2050, with interesting subplots about [[Hijra]]. The pronoun "yt" is used for genderless characters.

*''Luna: Wolf Moon'' and ''Luna: Moon Rising'', also by Ian McDonald, have a nonbinary character named Vidhya Rao.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna:_Wolf_Moon and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna:_Moon_Rising</ref>

*In Kameron Hurley's fantasy novel, ''Empire Ascendant,'' all people in a consent culture get to choose which of the five gender roles they identify with. Hurley calls characters who are "ungendered" by singular they pronouns.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GUEST POST: Beyond He-Man & She-Ra: Writing Non-Binary Characters by Kameron Hurley |author=Hurley Kameron |work=Intellectus Speculativus |date=3 September 2014 |access-date=27 September 2021 |url= https://intellectusspeculativus.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/guest-post-beyond-he-man-she-ra-writing-non-binary-characters-by-kameron-hurley/}}</ref>

* In ''Surface Detail'', the character Yime Nsokyi is "[[neuter]]-gendered" and has an [[intersex]] body by choice.

*At the end of ''Freakboy'', the main character, Brendan Chase identifies themselves as [[genderfluid]]. The book is primarily about their transition, and does end on a depressing note regarding their gender."

* ''Spin With Me'', by Ami Polonsky, is a middle-school novel featuring Ollie who is nonbinary.<ref name="Koehler">{{Cite web |title=#ReadWithPride: Spin With Me by Ami Polonsky |last=Koehler |first=Mimi |work=The Nerd Daily |date=9 September 2020 |access-date=19 October 2020 |url= https://www.thenerddaily.com/spin-with-me-by-ami-polonsky/}}</ref>

* In ''The Empress of Salt and Fortune'' and ''When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain'' by Nghi Vo, the character Chih is nonbinary.<ref name="Ladd">{{Cite web |title=Review: The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo |last=Ladd |first=Christina |work=The Nerd Daily |date=29 December 2019 |access-date=19 October 2020 |url= https://www.thenerddaily.com/the-empress-of-salt-and-fortune-nghi-vo/}}</ref>

* ''Sexarchate: Hot Equations'', by Lia Meyers, is a sexually explicit sci-fi with a nonbinary character. From the same publisher (Less Than Three Press), ''A Party for Lola'' by Caitlin Ricci and ''Beginnings'' by Alexa Black also contain nonbinary characters.<ref>https://lessthanthreepress.tumblr.com/search/non-binary</ref> However, these books may be hard to find, as the publisher closed down in 2019.

* In ''Jilted'' by Lilah Suzanne, Link is "a genderqueer artist who lives life by their own rules".<ref name="stor_Jilt">{{Cite web |title=Jilted (print edition) |author= |work=Interlude Press |date= |access-date=28 October 2020 |url= https://store.interludepress.com/products/jilted-print-edition}}</ref>

* In ''Only See You'', by J.D. Chambers, Mal Copol is nonbinary.<ref>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38227512-only-see-you</ref>

* In '' Every Day'', a novel by David Levithan, the protagonist named A wakes up every day in a different person's body. Each person whose body A inhabits has a clear-cut gender identity, but A themself says, "I didn’t think of myself as a boy or a girl—I never have."<ref>{{cite web |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190131040504if_/https://outwritenewsmag.org/2018/06/trans-characters-in-fiction/|archive-date=31 January 2019|url =https://outwritenewsmag.org/2018/06/trans-characters-in-fiction/|title=Trans Characters in Fiction|date=27 June 2018|last=Miceli|first=Cami}}</ref> The novel was adapted into a 2018 film.<ref>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7026672/</ref>

* ''Fool for Love'', by Lisa Lees, is "A young adult coming of age / [[coming out]] romance with [[intersex]] and genderqueer main characters and a happy ending." ''A Triangular Attraction'' is the 2012 sequel, a "mystery novel with intersex, trans and genderqueer characters." Both can now be read free online in HTML or EPUB format on [https://lisalees.com/ll/books/index.html the author's website].

*''The Water Outlaws'', a fantasy epic inspired by the 14th-century Chinese novel ''Water Margin'', is by [[genderqueer]] author [[S. L. Huang]] and has "a high percentage of gender nonconformity and of gender identities that in modern times we would call trans or nonbinary."<ref name="wateroutlaws">{{Cite web |title=S. L. Huang’s New Take on the Most Famous Chinese Novel You’ve Never Read in English: Announcing The Water Outlaws |work=Tor.com |date=15 October 2020 |access-date=7 November 2020 |url= https://www.tor.com/2020/10/15/book-announcements-s-l-huang-the-water-outlaws/}}</ref>

* ''The Vela'', a multi-author serially-published space opera, has a nonbinary character named Niko who uses [[they/them]] pronouns. There are other nonbinary characters as well. Yoon Ha Lee, one of the authors, revealed that in the original drafts "Niko was originally a [[cisgender]]ed male character named Oskar".<ref name="Hadi_thevela">{{Cite web |title=Unveiling ‘The Vela’: An interview with Becky Chambers, S. L. Huang and Yoon Ha Lee (Part 1) |last=Hadi |first=Shana E. |work=The Stanford Daily |date=6 March 2019 |access-date=7 November 2020 |url= https://www.stanforddaily.com/2019/03/06/unveiling-the-vela-an-interview-with-becky-chambers-s-l-huang-and-yoon-ha-lee-part-1/}}</ref>

* ''Finding Me'', by Stella Rainbow, is a romance between a [[genderfluid]] [[nonbinary]] person named Charlie and a [[gender-nonconforming]] man named Brady.<ref>{{cite book |title=Finding Me|last=Rainbow|first=Stella|year=2020}}</ref>

* The protagonist of ''Annabel'', written by Kathleen Winter, is [[intersex]] and raised as male, including genital surgery and being put on masculinizing medical treatments. They are given the name "Wayne" but sometimes go by "Annabel", and they identify "at least in part" with femininity/girlhood.<ref>{{cite book |title=Annabel |last=Winter |first=Kathleen |year=2010 |publisher=House of Anansi Press |quote=...he wondered what would happen if he could tell her they were both girls, at least in part.}}</ref> The protagonist's father takes great strides to encourage his child to be more masculine, whereas multiple women encourage the child's feminine side. Wayne/Annabel has been interpreted as nonbinary by some readers, with one reviewer saying the character is "both male/female in both body and soul".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/487958071?book_show_action=false |date=28 December 2012 |title=Laurie's Reviews > Annabel |access-date=13 February 2021}}</ref> Content note: Coercively assigned gender, infant genital surgery, sexual assault, ectopic pregnancy, some inaccurate/unrealistic depiction of intersex experiences.

* In the romance novel ''Gypsy's Rogue'', by Layla Dorine, main character Gypsy is genderfluid and uses they/them pronouns.<ref name="qri-gypsy">{{Cite web |title=Gypsy's Rogue |author= |work=Queeromance Ink |date= |access-date=23 February 2021 |url= https://www.queeromanceink.com/book/gypsys-rogue/}}</ref>

* In the novel ''Anger is a Gift'', by [[Mark Oshiro]], the main character has a nonbinary friend.<ref name="AngerGift">{{Cite web |title=Interview with Mark Oshiro, Author of ANGER IS A GIFT |last=Sridhar |first=Priya |work=BOOK RIOT |date=30 May 2018 |access-date=4 March 2021 |url= https://bookriot.com/mark-oshiro-interview/}}</ref>

* In the short story collection ''Sarahland'', by Sam Cohen, the story "Gemstones" features a genderqueer couple, Manny and Ry.<ref name="Sarahland">{{Cite web |title=Heartbreak and Existential Hope in 'Sarahland' |last=MacAllen |first=Ian |work=Chicago Review of Books |date=17 March 2021 |access-date=27 March 2021 |url= https://chireviewofbooks.com/2021/03/17/heartbreak-and-existential-hope-in-sarahland/}}</ref>

* ''Shug's Daddy'', by Siobhan Smile, is a sexually-explicit romance between a man named Grey and a nonbinary person named Sugar or Shug.<ref name="quee_Shug">{{Cite web |title=Shug's Daddy |author= |work=queeromanceink.com |date= |access-date=5 April 2021 |url= https://www.queeromanceink.com/book/shugs-daddy/}}</ref>

* Melchior is a small side character in ''Shatter the Sky'' by Rebecca Kim Wells. Melchior is only addressed using they/them pronouns and genderless language such as "person," although it is never explicitly stated that they are nonbinary.

* ''Saving Throw'', by Alex Silver, is a romance between "Errol, demisexual panromantic production coordinator who likes to be in control and his first love, Rene, a non-binary [[trans masc]] ex-hockey player turned coach."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saving Throw |author= |work=QueeRomance Ink |date= |access-date=19 June 2021 |url= https://www.queeromanceink.com/book/saving-throw/}}</ref>

====2008====

* ''Down to the Bone'', a young-adult book by Mayra Dole, contains a character named Tazer who self-describes as [[genderqueer]] and a [[boi]]. [[He/him]] pronouns are used for Tazer. Another character describes him as "Tazer is a boy ''and'' a girl". Note: The main plot involves the protagonist being kicked out of her home because of her sexuality, and there are some LGBT-phobic opinions expressed by characters, as well as use of words that could be triggering to readers, such as "homo", "lesbo", and "[[dyke]]".<ref>{{cite book|title=Down to the Bone|year=2008|last= Dole|first= Mayra L.}}</ref>

====2011====

*''Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica'' edited by Tristan Taormino

*''Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction'' edited by Brit Mandelo

*In [[Sassafras Lowrey]]'s ''Roving Pack'', the protagonist, named Click, is [[genderfluid]] and uses [[ze/hir]] pronouns.

====2016====

* In the 2016 sci-fi thriller novel ''Zero-G: Book 1'' (by William Shatner and Jeff Rovin), Adsila Waters is described multiple times as "[[pan-gender]]" (used as both an adjective and a noun in the book). "He" and "she" pronouns are variously used for Adsila. Adsila is also able to shapeshift her [[sex|sex characteristics]] to accompany gender switches.

====2019====

* ''Weak Heart'', by Ban Gilmartin, has a nonbinary side character.<ref name="ReadsRainbow2021">{{Cite web |title=Book Recs: Standalone Fantasy |author= |work=Reads Rainbow |date=13 May 2021 |access-date=21 August 2021 |url= https://readsrainbow.com/2021/05/book-recs-standalone-fantasy}}</ref>

* ''A More Graceful Shaboom'' is a 2020 children's book written by Jacinta Bunnell and illustrated by Crystal Vielula. The protagonist, Harmon Jitney, is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.<ref>https://www.etsy.com/listing/876633975/lgbtqai-non-binary-childrens-book-by</ref>

* ''Whirlwind'', by Reese Morrison, is a collection of interconnected short romance/sex stories. Dakota is [[intersex]] and nonbinary, describing their gender identity as "a combination of the best of both genders and something else beside." Carla is [[genderqueer]] and [[Masculine of center|masculine-of-center]] and uses [[he/him]] pronouns. Charlie is a [[gender questioning]] [[butch]] who uses [[she/her]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Whirlwind |last=Morrison |first=Reese|year=2020|edition=Kindle}}</ref>

====2021====

* ''Foxfire in the Snow'', by J.S. Fields, is a fantasy book with a nonbinary protagonist named Sorin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ANNOUNCEMENT/GIVEAWAY: Foxfire in the Snow – J.S. Fields |author= |work=jscottcoatsworth.com |date=3 August 2021 |access-date=27 September 2021 |url= https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com/announcement-giveaway-foxfire-in-the-snow-j-s-fields/}}</ref>

* ''There's Magic Between Us'', by Jillian Maria, has a genderfluid side character.<ref name="magicalreads2021" />

* ''Love Kills Twice'', by Rien Gray, is a romance between a woman and the nonbinary assassin she hires to kill her abusive husband. The assassin is named Campbell and uses [[singular they]] pronouns.<ref>https://www.queeromanceink.com/book/love-kills-twice/</ref>

=== Comics/Webcomics/Graphic Novels===