What does it mean to be Non-Binary?
Non-Binary Awareness Week begins this year on the 11th July 2021, and is a week dedicated to those who do not fit within the traditional gender binary or put simply, those who do not exclusively identify as a man or a woman, or who may identify as both a man and a woman or may fall outside of these categories altogether.
At Achieve together, we have two Relationship & Sexuality Advisors who support people’s relationship and sexuality needs. We host and promote LGBTQ+ meetings which take place every Tuesday on zoom for anyone from Achieve together who wants to join in.
We met with K, who lives in one of our homes, and who identifies as ‘they/them’ to pose a few questions.
What does gender mean to you?
Just to feel comfortable in your body. Gender doesn’t mean you have to see yourself as male or female.
What does it mean to be non-binary for you?
That’s a tricky one – I don’t class myself as male or female. You might me see me as a man, but I see myself as another sort of gender which isn’t female or male.
What does non-binary mean in general?
I think most people haven’t heard about it, or only just heard about it lately. I didn’t know what it was until I looked it up. I looked it up when I did a mental health meetings, I talked a lot about my gender and sexuality, started to research and discover myself. Started looking up around surgery and medication etc.
Are your mental health meetings useful?
Oh yes, I did one or two meetings a week for about four or five months.
What do you wish people knew about non-binary?
That you don’t have to be female or male, you can be anything. Non-binary means you can class yourself as anything. I want to be male and female. I want people to not be scared about it, research it and get to know about it. If people don’t know who they are, they should get more information to feel less uncomfortable about themselves. I just feel comfortable being non-binary.
Where do you see the next five years for non-binary people?
People are getting more accepted. I would like people to learn more about it, and get to know what else they can class themselves as. I would like to sort my identity out properly in a few years, maybe by then I might have my treatment – I might be happy with the way I look. Now I feel happy with myself.
How can people best support and respect non-binary people?
Support teams can learn about non-binary and look into it. Sitting down with the person they support and talking about what it means to that person to be non-binary. Support people to go further if they wish to, about gender and potential reassignment. It’s important to be respectful to people that are different to you – this helps people to come out as who they are.
If you would like to learn more about how Achieve together support people with their relationships and sexuality, email us at info@achievetogether.co.uk.
