Saturday, June 11, 2016

I Object

An umbrella term for anyone who does not identify as just male or just female, nonbinary, for the first time in US history, is being legally recognized as a gender.

Everything was put in motion by Jamie Shupe, an Army vet who has been transitioning gender since 2013, the Daily Dot reported.

A petition filed by Shupe in late April included two letters from their doctors that state their gender should be nonbinary. Shupe, who prefers not to use gender pronouns, first petitioned to change their gender from male to female.

  RT
Fine, let's have a word that describes someone who doesn't identify with either sex - and not my aunt's "he-she", and frankly, if Shupe is transitioning there is already a word for that: transgender.  Just as cisgender describes those who identify with the gender of their physiology.  (Trans - across; cis - on the same side.) And if Shupe identifies with both sides of the gender coin, perhaps simply "ambigendered."  At any rate, f we need another word, could we make it something that sounds human? "Nonbinary" if you must, but I draw the line at using the pronoun "their" when you are speaking in the singular case.
Nancy Haque, a co-executive director for Basic Rights Oregon, told Oregon Live that while this was a “momentous day for genderqueer Oregonians,” it was not a total victory for nonbinary Oregonians.
"Genderqueer" Oregonians?? No. Just no. There is already way too much negative baggage attached to the word "queer".
"I was assigned male at birth due to biology," Shupe explained to Oregon Live. "I'm stuck with that for life. My gender identity is definitely feminine. My gender identity has never been male, but I feel like I have to own up to my male biology. Being non-binary allows me to do that. I'm a mixture of both. I consider myself as a third sex."
Fine.  But you are still only one person.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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