Hi everyone. Personally I am not non-binary but I'm comfortable identifying as female.
I have met some non-binary people in person who I assumed identified as female. Luckily they didn't hear me use the pronoun "she." Their brother just nicely explained to me it just makes them feel good to use "they/them" pronouns.
Anyway, I have no problem with that but are more people identifying as non-binary these days?

There's more open discussion about gender identity these days, so people who weren't aware of non-binary identities before might now recognize it in themselves.

Yes, I agree with their brother that "they/them" is the most common pronoun used by non-binary people, but it's not necessarily fixed for everyone.

I am non-binary, but I prefer she/her pronouns when I am in a female state, and he/him when I am feeling masculine. I only frequent this forum when I am in a feminine state, therefore when I am contributing here I prefer the pronouns of she/her.

If I am unsure  of someone's pronouns I introduce myself with my pronouns and politely ask them what pronouns they use, this seems to work for me all the time.

Quote from: CosmicJoke on June 09, 2024, 05:54:58 PMHi everyone. Personally I am not non-binary but I'm comfortable identifying as female.
I have met some non-binary people in person who I assumed identified as female. Luckily they didn't hear me use the pronoun "she." Their brother just nicely explained to me it just makes them feel good to use "they/them" pronouns.
Anyway, I have no problem with that but are more people identifying as non-binary these days?

I think more people are comfortable coming out as any stripe of LGBTQIA+ than in the past. I'm not sure the number of people has increased, just their willingness to be themselves.

Hugs, Devlyn

I agree. The general acceptance has increased dramatically among the general public. Hopefully, after the elections, the divisiveness will calm down.

Most school systems in the modern societies now are teaching that an individual is unique and you do not have to conform to stereotypes, be that gender, sexuality or social. Teaching tolerance of others and acceptance as the way to build societies. This is against a lot of religious doctrines and, as such. causes the conflicts we see with less enlightened or educated people.
If you are over 35 years of age, you probably do not recognise what I describe as the school system, it is a recent change.. but if you have had a child in the last decade going through the education system or are young enough, you will understand how education is now trying to balance all subjects and teach across the spectrum. Especially when it comes to religion, sexuality and gender.
I think this is one of the factors that accounts for a high rise in gender non-conformist. The rise amongst the young is especially high. May they go on and build a society of a beautiful rainbow of people and rejoice in the celebration of the individual.

I think there are also a lot of people that 50 years ago would have felt the same way as now, but would not have had words to express it.   I always knew that I wasn't "normal" as regards gender, but I just assumed it meant there was something wrong with me.  And when I heard about transgender, I only heard the "woman trapped in a man's body" stuff and the Jerry Springer versions of things, and that didn't fit how I experienced myself.

It was a blog post about 10 years ago that opened my eyes to the possibility that the word "trans" could describe what I had always felt.  And websites like Susans helped me learn from trans people all the ways one can be trans, without the distortions and slanders that the more "official" sources claim.

So I suspect that a lot of the people that now identify as non-binary would in pre-internet days either have tried to live as something like lesbian or gay, or maybe binary trans, or maybe just lived in misery (or killed themselves.)

FWIW, a previous trans survey (before the 2022 one) found that roughly 1/3 of the respondents considered themselves non-binary.

Quote from: Asche on June 11, 2024, 05:45:51 PMI think there are also a lot of people that 50 years ago would have felt the same way as now, but would not have had words to express it.   I always knew that I wasn't "normal" as regards gender, but I just assumed it meant there was something wrong with me.  And when I heard about transgender, I only heard the "woman trapped in a man's body" stuff and the Jerry Springer versions of things, and that didn't fit how I experienced myself.

This 100%.

Having the words, knowing that there are other people who feel similarly, and being able to share stories/experiences with each other, is extremely helpful.  If not for the internet and a couple of books (that I found because of the internet), I'd know something was kind of odd with my gender but could have gone two different ways:

- it would never have gone outside my own personal journal and would have always been a source of confusion and stress.

- or, less likely, I might have decided I was a trans woman.  If I went through transition I probably would have felt really weird about it, caught up in self-doubt and second-guessing because I didn't really feel like a woman after not feeling like I had been a man.