Non-Binary: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Enbyflag.png|thumb|220x220px|The non-binary flag.]]

[[File:Static-assets-upload16617388485353815669.png|alt=|thumb|The oldest known non binary flag.]]

[[File:Nonbinary 3.jpg|thumb|Alternate flag by tumblr user theultravs]]

[[File:Alternate Non Binary Flag.png|thumb|Another alternate flag.]]

[[File:Nonbinary-alt.png|thumb|Another alternate non-binary flag by Kirbirb.]]

[[File:Nonbinary.png|thumb|Cryptocrew's non-binary flag.]]

[[File:Alt nbi flag.png|thumb|Another alternate non-binary flag by FANDOM user Waterbutcold]]

[[File:Nb symbol.gif|thumb|180x180px|The non-binary symbol.]]

[[File:Nonbinary symbol.png|thumb|An alternate version of the non-binary symbol. Unicode: U+1F72C 🜬]]

[[File:Maverique symbol.jpg|thumb|An alternate non-binary symbol. Unicode: U+2604 ☄]]

[[File:L2 A Six Non Binary Flag.png|thumb|200x200px|L2 A Six's alternate flag.]]

[[File:AltNonBinaryFlagByExnoticE.jpg|thumb|Alternate flag by user ExnoticE.]]

[[File:Nonbinary 8 stripe.png|thumb|Alternate Pastel 8 stripe Non-binary flag made by PanDemiBoyPride]]

'''Non-Binary''' or '''nonbinary''' (sometimes shortened to '''NBY''' or '''N.B.''') refers to someone whose [[gender]] does not fall strictly within the category of the [[Binary Genders|binary genders]] ([[male]] or [[female]]) that are used in western society. Anyone who is not always, solely, 100% male or always, solely, 100% female can be considered non-binary. Some non-binary individuals may identify with one or both of the binary genders, at least in part, while others are completely unrelated to the binary genders.

===Types of Non-Binary Genders===

[[File:Alternate star non-binary flag.png|thumb|Alternate star non-binary flag.]]

[[File:Nonbinary coat of arms.png|thumb|Nonbinary coat of arms.]]

Some non-binary can be partly connected to or [[Gender Alignment|aligned]] to one or both of the binary genders. For example, a male-aligned non-binary individual ([[solarian]]) may have an experience similar to binary male people or have some connection to boyhood/manhood, regardless of actual gender. Non-binary individuals are often connected to [[Masculine|masculinity]] and/or [[Feminine|femininity]], but they do not necessarily have to be connected to manhood/boyhood or womanhood/girlhood. This kind of non-binary identities may be called [[viabinary]], [[ideobinary]], or aligned. Non-binary individuals who are somewhere in between or simultaneously experience masculinity and femininity, and/or maleness and femaleness can be called [[androgyne]], [[androgynous]], or [[mesobinary]].

===Victorian Era (17th-19th Century)===

*In the 17th century, English laws concerning inheritance sometimes referred to individuals who didn’t fit the gender binary using the pronoun "it". While dehumanizing, it was considered the most grammatically fit answer to gendered pronouns around then. This is an example of individuals being considered legally outside of male and female.<ref>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/singular-nonbinary-they Singular 'They' | Merriam Webster]</ref>

*Although the "singular they" had been in use in English for hundreds of years in 1745, prescriptive grammarians began to say that it was no longer acceptable. Their reasoning was that neutral pronouns don't exist in Latin, which was thought to be a better language, so English shouldn't use them either. They instead recommended using "he" as a gender-neutral pronoun. This started the dispute over the problem of acceptable gender-neutral pronouns in English.<ref>[https://www.theawl.com/2011/01/our-desperate-250-year-long-search-for-a-gender-neutral-pronoun/ Our Desperate, 250-Year-Long Search for a Gender-Neutral Pronoun | The Awl]</ref>

===Modern History===

*The earliest known use of the word "[[genderqueer]]" is by Riki Anne Wilchins in the Spring 1995 newsletter of Transexual Menace. In 1995 they were published in the newsletter In Your Face, wherethey used the term genderqueer In the newsletter, the term appears to refer to individuals with complex or unnamed gender expressions. Wilchins stated they identify as genderqueer in their 1997 autobiography.<ref>https://genderqueerid.com/post/8813994851/answering-gender-questions-coining-genderqueer</ref>

*[[File:Alternative non-binary flag.png|thumb|Alternative non-binary flag made by Twitter user cum_binary.|178x178px]]In 1998, an article from a transgender community on the Internet, Sphere, used the words "queergendered" and "polygendered" interchangeably as umbrella terms for everyone whose gender was outside the gender binary, specifying that these included individuals who were "bi-gendered, non-gendered, or third-gendered," explaining that some faced difficulty in seeking a gender-ambiguous physical transition.<ref>http://gender-sphere.0catch.com/polygenderfaq.htm</ref>