Non-Binary (nonbinary) is one of several terms for people who do not conform to one gender such as man or woman, or as a male or female. Other terms for non-binary include, depending on the source or person: agender, genderqueer, gender nonconforming, gender creative, gender fluid, and bigender.
People who identify as non-binary may have different definitions of what it means to identify or express themselves as non-binary, and how they would like to be acknowledged.
In some states, people who identify as non-binary, or do not identify as either male or female, have the opportunity to choose the gender-neutral option for sex on driver’s licenses, and federal passports will also offer this option.
International Non-Binary People’s Day is observed on July 14.
The sourced articles below should provide you more information.
- About Nonbinary
“Very simply, it means that neither binary option of being strictly male or strictly female describes their gender. The definition of nonbinary can be different for each person. For some, the word nonbinary explains their gender as both female and male. For others, their gender does not include male or female. Others have no gender at all. Nonbinary is a term that allows a lot of space for discovery.”
Trans Families, transfamilies.org, accessed 6/14/2022
- Transgender And Non-Binary People 101
“Non-binary is an identity embraced by some people who do not identify exclusively as a man or a woman. Non-binary people may identify as being both a man and a woman, somewhere in between or as falling completely outside of these categories. While many also identify as transgender, not all non-binary people do. Non-binary can also be used as an umbrella term encompassing identities such as agender, bigender, genderqueer or gender fluid.”
The Human Rights Campaign, hrc.org, accessed 6/14/2022
- What Is Genderfluid Vs. Non-Binary? Let’s Break It Down!
“Some people think being non-binary is being intersex. This means they have a body that traditionally isn’t referred to as female and male. Non-intersex and intersex people can both refer to themselves as non-binary. Other people think that being non-binary means you’re transgender. And, while there are non-binary individuals who identify with this, there are also those that don’t.”
Queer In The World, queerintheworld.com, accessed 6/14/2022
- In Focus: Nonbinary People
“In 2016, an Oregon court granted a resident a legal gender change that reflected their nonbinary identity — the first known case of a U.S. court allowing someone to change their gender marker to anything other than male or female. The development spurred Oregon, along with several other states, to begin issuing driver’s licenses and state ID cards with a gender-neutral X marker in the sex field. As of December 2021, at least 21 states and Washington, DC, offer the X marker and, in October 2021, the U.S. State Department issued the first federal passport with an X in the gender field. That decision came after a federal court ordered the State Department to review its policy in a case brought by Colorado resident Dana Zzyym. The State Department announcement notes that the gender-neutral marker will be offered to all routine passport applicants in early 2022.”
GLAAD, glaad.org, accessed 6/14/2022
- Nonbinary Gender Identities: A Diverse Global History
“When we dive deeper into the rich global history of nonbinary identities, we see that it is not the identities themselves that are new, but rather society’s awareness of them. As it turns out, nonbinary people – like all LGBTQ people – have always existed, everywhere. Out & Equal has created a resource that traces nonbinary identities back to 2000 BCE and locates historical touchpoints of these identities.”
Out & Equal, outandequal.org, accessed 6/14/2022
- More Than 5% Of Americans Under 30 Now Identify As Transgender Or Nonbinary, New Research Finds
“Another factor was age: Most Americans (79%) say they have heard at least something about the concept of ‘nonbinary’ or ‘gender fluid’ to describe their gender, but only 26% say they have heard a lot about this concept. Young adults, meanwhile, are far more likely to be familiar with this idea: About 4 in 10 adults younger than 30 (42%) say they have heard a lot about being nonbinary, compared with 31% of those 30 to 49, 20% of those 50 to 64 and 12% of those 65 and older. Still, even older adults have at least a slight familiarity, as two-thirds of those 65 and older say they have heard at least a little about the term.”
Beth Greenfield, aol.com, 6/7/2022
- What Does Gender Nonconforming Mean?
“Another topic to address when speaking about gender nonconformity is those who fall under the umbrella of non-binary: agender (who do not identify with any gender), gender fluid (whose gender changes across time), bi+gender (who have more than one gender), and other-gendered (whose gender is not part of the man/woman categories). … Appearing feminine or masculine does not, however, cancel out their identity as non-binary.”
Anabelle Bernard Fournier, fact-checked by Emily Swaim, verywellmind.com, 2/17/2022
- Gender Identify Vs Gender Expression
“In order to understand non-binary gender identities better, it’s vital to understand the difference between gender identity and gender expression. Gender identity refers to a person’s clear sense of their own gender. This is not something which is governed by a person’s physical attributes. Gender expression is how you express yourself and just like the rest of society, non-binary people have all sorts of ways to express themselves and their identity. They can present as masculine, feminine or in another way and this can change over time, but none of these expressions make their identity any less valid or worthy of respect.”
Stonewall Staff, stonewall.org.uk, 7/14/2021
- Why A First-Of-Its-Kind Count Of Nonbinary Adults Is Crucial To Our Understanding Of LGBTQ Communities
“Bianca D.M. Wilson, a senior scholar of public policy at the Williams Institute and co-author of the study, said the center wanted to highlight key demographic data on this subgroup because nonbinary people are a part of the LGBTQ community, and ‘we don’t have that data point anywhere else.’ … Regarding the mental health of nonbinary people, nearly 94 percent said they have considered suicide. Another 39 percent said they have attempted it. While the data the Williams Institute’s study is from 2016 to 2018, these findings, its researchers concluded, show how the vulnerabilities among nonbinary LGBTQ adults tracks with data on the broader LGBTQ community.”
Joshua Barajas, pbs.org, 7/2/2021
- A Guide To How Gender-Neutral Language Is Developing Around The World
“In 2019 the Merriam-Webster dictionary added ‘they’ as the pronoun to use for a ‘single person whose gender identity is nonbinary.’ Two years prior, in 2017, ‘they’ as a gender-neutral form was added to the Associated Press Stylebook, the gold standard of sorts for journalists. The Washington Post, meanwhile, made the style guide change in 2015. … In 2015, Sweden added to the country’s official dictionary the word ‘hen’ — a gender-neutral pronoun that linguists had pushed as an alternative to the male pronoun ‘han’ and female ‘hon.’”
Miriam Berger, washingtonpost.com, 12/15/2019