Today is the 14th of July, and it’s time we celebrate International Non-Binary Day.
#NonbinaryDay
Lee-Anne Lawrance, Deputy Chair of LGBTIQA+ Greens.
The earliest suggestion for an international day for non-binary people seems to be from 2012: https://femmesblackmarket.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/calling-for-an-international-non-binary-gender-day/
Five years later, and it’s time this was widespread.
Non-binary people exist, and are as valid as any man or woman, but we are in desperate need of visibility, role models, and acceptance.
Conversations about gender are entering the mainstream, and our needs are beginning to be recognised. There is still so much to do, but when non-binary activists such as Kaelin Farnish convince a bank to add non-binary to their gender options, we are making progress. When trans activist Aimee Challenor (and Sian Berry London AM) pushes the Mayor of London to make all Transport for London announcements gender neutral, we are making progress. And hopefully these small steps will inch us closer to things like easier access to healthcare services, legal recognition, and simple things like more accessible public spaces.
Binary allies – Please help us in our fights, help us on a personal level, help us when we’re not even around to see it. We need you to correct your friends and family, to fill comment sections with positivity, and to examine your own ideas around gender.
Non-binary siblings – Whilst these fights for acceptance are going on, we must remember that we are handsome, we are beautiful, we are amazing, and we are valid. WE ARE VALID.
So today let’s celebrate that non-binary people exist. We exist.
To follow some non-binary people on twitter see:
- https://twitter.com/UglaStefania
- https://twitter.com/theFoxFisher
- https://twitter.com/Maria_Munir
- https://twitter.com/cnlester
- https://twitter.com/LucasOfYork
- Me: https://twitter.com/GreenLee_Anne
For more information on non-binary identities see:
http://genderedintelligence.co.uk/projects/kip/transidentities/resources-nb
And please check out my non-binary webcomic at only-two.tumblr.com
