This Is What Gender-Nonbinary People Look Like

What is something you would like people to know about nonbinary folks?

Nonbinary folks are not a deterrent from the "trans conversation." We are an expansion of it. We do not need to play the oppression olympics in order to figure out which trans people are worthy. Instead, we should listen and develop safety nets for people of all trans experiences. Girls, Boys, and Folks like us matter. We are worthy. We are beautiful. We are desirable. We are here. We have always been here. And we're not going anywhere.

Rowan Hepps Keeney, Performer, Educator, & Student Activist | they/them^[1]

What does being nonbinary mean to you?

Being non-binary means embracing liminality. Unapologetically existing in the in-between. Being comfortable with discomfort and seeing the incompleteness as whole.

What is something you would like people to know about nonbinary folks?

Never try to categorize or define what being nonbinary means or looks like for an individual — especially if those concepts are clouded by racism, fatphobia, ableism, classism, misogyny, or any other form of oppression. A person's name, pronouns, and presentation does not define their gender. Rather, these are tools that some of us may or may not use to help communicate or validate our identities externally, but they can never fully encapsulate the matrices of colors and light that are refracted within us. Always ask rather than assume; never label when you can dismantle.

Meredith Talusan^[2] is Senior Editor for them. and an award-winning journalist and author. They have written features, essays, and opinion pieces for many publications, including The Guardian, The Atlantic, VICE, Matter, Backchannel, The Nation, Mic, BuzzFeed News, and The American Prospect. She received 2017 GLAAD Media and Deadline Awards, and has contributed to several books, including Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America.