TDoV!
Happy Trans Day of Visibility! Today is a day for transgender and/or non-binary individuals to come forth and be proud of who they are! If you go on tumblr and search for the hashtag tdov, you can see the photos and bios of so many inspiring people. Today is a day for celebrating being who you are!
For those of you who don’t know, here are some definitions of orientations that are being showcased today, coupled with the pride flags of each. (To note for the following definitions, there is a difference between sex, gender, sexual orientation, and sexual practice. Sex is what is between your legs, while gender is what is between your ears. Sexual orientation is the type of person the individual is attracted to, while practice is the type of person with whom they are romantically/sexually involved.)
Transgender: Someone is transgender when they are assigned a sex at birth that does not match the gender that they know themselves to be. Some transgender people undergo affirmation surgery in order for their sex to match their gender, but others choose not to.
Non-Binary: People who consider themselves non-binary feel as if they don’t fit into either of the traditional “male” or “female” categories. These individuals may feel comfortable identifying as both, neither, or some combination of the two.
Agender: Agender individuals feel that they do not align with any specific gender, or rather, that they do not have a defining gender at all.
Genderfluid: Those who are genderfluid feel that their gender may change, flowing between several genders. One morning they may wish to dress and act like a boy, and the next morning prefer to exhibit agender characteristics. Some people who are genderfluid may also feel that they may be more than one gender at the same time.
Genderqueer: In general, genderqueer is a catch-all term for those who don’t identify as any particular gender, including those listed above.
These various gender identities are often associated with different pronouns that those who experience them choose to be called by. These pronouns often do not differentiate between genders, or encompass more than one. Used commonly is them/their pronouns. Another example is the recent emergence, among the Latin American community, of the Latinx and Latin@ (pronounced Latinoa) words. The former changes the distinctly binary words, Latina and Latino, into one that does not specify gender. The latter is a combination of the two. Some non-binary individuals choose to implement their own individual pronouns. An extensive list of non-binary pronouns can be found at http://nonbinary.org/wiki/Pronouns.
Finally, remember that gender is not a linear spectrum! It looks more like this:
Special thanks to The Gender Wiki for being a great fact-checking resource! And thanks for reading!