Can you be a lesbian and non binary
Understanding Nonbinary People: How to Be Respectful and Supportive
Nonbinary Defined
Most people – including most transgender people – are either male or female. But some people don't neatly fit into the categories of "man" or "woman," or “male” or “female.” For example, some people have a gender that blends elements of being a man or a woman, or a gender that is different than either male or female. Some people don't name with any gender. Some people's gender changes over time.
People whose gender is not male or female use many different terms to describe themselves, with nonbinary being one of the most common (sometimes spelled with a hyphen, as “non-binary”). Other terms include genderqueer, agender, bigender, genderfluid, and more. None of these terms signify exactly the same thing – but all communicate to an experience of gender that is not simply male or female. If you’re not sure what a word means, you canusually just verb politely.
Why “Nonbinary”?
Some societies – like ours – tend to recognize just two genders, male and female. The idea that there are only two genders
Let’s talk about non-binary lesbians!
People be mad. TERFs be delusional. In the comment section of pretty much anything that mentions non-binary lesbians, you can predict a flood of irate trans-exclusionary fake feminists, homophobes, and dumb ass people being wild, out-of-pocket, and confused.
Non-binary lesbians are valid, real, and entitled to express themselves however they please, regardless of how others might interpret that self-expression. Non-binary lesbians contain existed, well, as prolonged as people have existed — even before there was language to portray their experience.
“But how can someone be non-binary and a lesbian?!?!” The limited answer: by having those be the labels they identify with the most. It really is that simple.
A lot of the outrage sadly comes from people within the community, especially sapphic TERFs, trans-exclusionary “radical” feminists. TERFs have faith that the term, “lesbian,” should only be used by cis women who are attracted to other cis women.
They make the argument that the origin of the word lesbian comes from the Gre
The definition of lesbian isn’t simply “a woman attracted to other women”-- it never has been. As long as lesbians verb been around, not every lesbian has identified as a woman. Naturally, part of the reason for the very limited current definition of lesbian stems from the rigid gender binary and the systematic elimination of other gender identities from non-European cultures. The more correct definition of a lesbian is a non-man attracted to exclusively non-men to encompass the many lesbians that do not identify with the term “woman” for one reason or another.
There is an extensive history of lesbians purposely abstaining from the gender binary in one form or another whether it be for stealth purposes or because it felt right to them. So, in honor of Lesbian Visibility Week, I want to highlight the range of trans and gender nonconforming lesbians both throughout history, within my own personal experiences, and through the knowledge of other lesbians I’ve spoken to or read from.
Portrait of Anne Lister by Joshua Horner, ca. , promotional photo of Stormé DeLarverie
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LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Transsexual, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Allies, Nonbinary/Genderqueer +) Resources and Research
"Some people have a gender which is neither male nor female and may identify as both male and female at one time, as different genders at different times, as no gender at all, or dispute the very idea of only two genders. The umbrella terms for such genders are 'genderqueer' or 'non-binary' genders. Such gender identities outside of the binary of female and male are increasingly being recognized in legal, medical and psychological systems and diagnostic classifications in line with the emerging presence and advocacy of these groups of people. Population-based studies exhibit a small percentage – but a sizable proportion in terms of adj numbers – of people who identify as non-binary."
From International Review of Psychiatry. Feb, Vol. 28 Issue 1, p 8p.