Non-binary and Genderqueer Genders

Motmans Joz, Timo Nieder, Walter Bouman, Motmans Joz, Timo Ole Nieder, Walter Pierre Bouman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000053326
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Some people have a gender which is neither male nor female and may identify as both male and female at one time, as different genders at different times, as no gender at all, or dispute the very idea of only two genders. The most often heard umbrella terms for such genders are 'non-binary' or 'genderqueer' genders. This book looks to bring together those currently exploring and researching this non-binary phenomenon.

Gender identities outside of the binary of female and male are increasingly being recognized in social, legal, medical and psychological discourses together with the emerging presence and advocacy of people, who identify as non-binary or genderqueer. Population-based studies show a small percentage – but a sizable proportion in terms of numbers – of people who identify as non-binary. While such genders have always been in existence worldwide, they remain marginalized, and as such at risk of victimization and of minority stress as a result of social non-acceptance and discrimination.

Non-binary and Genderqueer Genders explores these gender identities in relation to health, well-being, and/or other experiences in an effort to contribute to improving clinical standards and continued cultural change towards acceptance for this group of people.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Transgenderism (renamed International Journal of Transgender Health in 2020).

Non-binary and genderqueer: An overview of the field

Surya Monro

The existence of gender variance is widely documented both historically and cross-culturally (Herdt, ; Matsuno & Budge, ). The term “genderqueer” emerged in the 1990s (see Whittle, ). It can be defined as “any type of trans identity that is not always male or female. It is [also] where people feel they are a mixture of male and female” (Monro, , p. 13). Genderqueer identities are diverse but share dis-identification with rigid gender binaries and in some cases, a direct challenge to the social institutions that perpetuate binaries (see Bradford et al., ; Davy, ; Yeadon-Lee, ). “Non-binary” is an umbrella term that includes those whose identity falls outside of or between male and female identities; as a person who can experience both male and female, at different times, or someone who does not experience or want to have a gender identity at all (Matsuno & Budge, ). Like genderqueer, non-binary can be traced to the work of transgender and transsexual authors who resisted or transcended gender binaries, for example Bornstein, who stated that ‘Gender fluidity recognizes no borders or rules of gender.’ (1994, p. 52). The earliest use of terms referring directly to non-binary seems to be around 2000, for example Haynes and McKenna’s () collection Unseen Genders: Beyond the Binaries.

Estimates of the numbers of non-binary people vary. In a survey in the United Kingdom (UK) with 14,320 responses from trans people, almost 52% identified as non-binary (Government Equalities Office, ). However, Nieder, T’Sjoen, Bouman, and Motmans (2018) conducted a comprehensive literature analysis that indicated that approximately 80% of trans people identify as exclusively male or female, which leaves 20% to individuals with a gender falling outside of or between male and female identities. There are generational differences; typically a higher proportion of young people identify as non-binary. For instance, in a Canadian study, authors note the growing population of non-binary youth, with 41% of a sample of 839 of trans young people identifying as such (Clark, Veale, Townsend, Frohard-Dourlent, & Saewyc, ; Yeadon-Lee, ).

The last few years have witnessed a shift in the possibilities afforded for gender expression in some countries, however fragile and contingent this development might be. For instance, Bragg, Renold, Ringrose, and Jackson () in a UK study found “expanded vocabularies of gender identity/expression…” (2018, p. 1). “Non-binary” is now an increasingly recognized social identity in the UK, which has led to some changes in institutional norms and structures, for example the civil service adopting a non-binary identity option (see Monro, Crocetti, Yeadon-Lee, Garland, & Travis, ). Likewise, Nieder et al. () discuss the increased visibility of non-binary and genderqueer (NBGQ) people in clinical settings.

Despite some increases in the social acceptance of non-binary, the literature highlights difficulties regarding visibility (Taylor, Zalewska, Gates, & Millon, ). This is evident at the level of individual subjectivity, for example 76% of non-binary people in the 2018 UK survey avoided expressing their gender identity due to fear of negative reactions (Government Equalities Office, ). The issue of invisibility is also pertinent to policy making and practice settings. For instance, where health monitoring systems use gender binary categories, NBGQ people are rendered invisible (see Jaspal, Nambiar, Delpech, & Tariq, ).

A small but growing literature exists about health care and NBGQ people (see for example Vincent & Lorimer, ). The UK Government Equalities Office () found that non-binary people had substantially lower quality of life scores, as compared to cisgender and heterosexual people. High levels of minority stress and of social discrimination were reported in studies such as Taylor et al. (). The research shows that NBGQ people’s mental health is worse than that of cisgender populations, and it also seems that non-binary people may be at higher risk of mental health problems than binary trans people (Matsuno & Budge, ). Motmans and Burgwal () conducted a survey in five countries which demonstrated that non-binary people assessed their health in more negative terms, as compared to the binary trans respondents. They showed significantly higher rates of have a chronic problem, disability, or illness and also of experiences of depression. Their study supported earlier research that demonstrated poorer health amongst NBGQ people as compared with binary identified trans people (Harrison, Grant, & Herman, ). However, Rimes, Goodship, Ussher, Baker, and West () who (in a survey of 677 young people from the UK) found that non binary young people were less likely than other groups to report suicidality and previous help-seeking for anxiety and depression, and also reported higher levels of life satisfaction than young binary trans people. Overall, therefore, the findings about NBGQ people and health are inconclusive; both practice and the social environment are evolving.

The editorial

This Special Edition about non-binary and genderqueer is very much to be welcomed. The increased prominence of non-binary as an identity is somewhat reflected in scholarship, for example Richards, Bouman, and Barker (), but in comparison to the binaried trans literature there is a paucity of research (Matsuno & Budge, ). Overall, academic production has not kept pace with the growth of non-binary identities, and there are difficulties with erasure of non-binary within the broader transgender category (Fiani & Han, ). The Special Edition, with its contributions in areas as varied as healthcare, romance, identity measurement and identity work, will provide an important and timely contribution to the field. It will form a good foundation for the further expansion of NBGQ studies. This expansion is needed, as little research exists in areas such as education (though see Bragg et al., ) and a dearth of knowledge in such policing and community safety, asylum and refugee rights, and social care.

This editorial will summarize key areas of relevant theory and will attempt to indicate some possible directions for future research. Its focus is on the global anglophone north. The editorial aims to be thought-provoking rather than directly informing of practice. Some excellent discussions of clinical issues are provided elsewhere, including Taylor et al. ().

Theorizing genderqueer and non-binary

I conducted research with a range of UK-based trans-identified and intersex individuals in the 1990s, focusing on those with non-normative gender identities, including genderqueer. Based on this, I developed an approach to theorizing what is now known as NBGQ (Monro, ; ), building on the earlier work of authors such as Bornstein () and Halberstam (). I explored three approaches: [i] the expansion of male and female categories, which enables the inclusion of non-normative genders. I noted that “this interpretation of gender problematically erases non-binaried trans identities [because all gender identities are subsumed within an expanded model of male and female]” (Monro, , p. 36); [ii] Moving beyond gender, or degendering; this has a difficulty in that “…once fluidity is named, it becomes a space which people can inhabit…and is therefore arguably no longer a non-category.” (2005, p. 37). Non-binary illustrates the way in which what was (in the 1990s) a non-category has become a category that people do inhabit, and in doing so may fuel social change. [iii] The third approach, which has had the most purchase subsequently (see for instance Hines, ) is Gender Pluralism. This entails “…conceptualising gender as plural, as a spectrum, a field, or intersecting spectra or continua” (2005, p. 37), as a means of moving beyond flawed ontologies that entrench gender binaries. The notion of a gender spectrum is evident in later work on genderqueer (Bradford et al., ) and on non-binary, for example Richards et al. () discuss diversifying gender in terms of a spectrum model. Matsuno and Budge state that “The term non-binary typically defines a comprehensive scope of gender experiences (sometimes discussed as the “gender spectrum”)” (2017, p. 117, see also Fiani & Han, ). The spectrum approach is very useful for understanding NBGQ identities, especially when expanded using intersectional approaches, which I discuss briefly below. However, the notion of gender pluralism did marginalize physiological sex, which is problematic as it elides intersex and variations of sex characteristics. I therefore propose here a complementary notion of Sex Pluralism, which encompasses sex characteristic variance as a separate spectrum which overlaps, intertwines with and influences gender plura...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction: Transforming the paradigm of nonbinary transgender health: A field in transition
• 1 Non-binary and genderqueer: An overview of the field
• 2 Breaking down barriers and binaries in trans healthcare: The validation of non-binary people
• 3 The terminology of identities between, outside and beyond the gender binary: A systematic review
• 4 Creating gender: A thematic analysis of genderqueer narratives
• 5 Queer ethics and fostering positive mindsets toward non-binary gender, genderqueer, and gender ambiguity
• 6 Navigating identity: Experiences of binary and non-binary transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) adults
• 7 An exploration of the lived experiences of non-binary individuals who have presented at a gender identity clinic in the United Kingdom
• 8 Influences of health care access on resilience building among transgender and gender non-binary individuals
• 9 Health disparities between binary and non binary trans people: A community-driven survey
• 10 Non-binary and binary transgender youth: Comparison of mental health, self-harm, suicidality, substance use and victimization experiences
• 11 A comparison of mental health symptomatology and levels of social support in young treatment seeking transgender individuals who identify as binary and non-binary
• 12 Mental health and quality of life in non-binary transgender adults: A case control study
• 13 Gender congruence and body satisfaction in nonbinary transgender people: A case control study
• 14 The gender affirmative lifespan approach (GALA): A framework for competent clinical care with nonbinary clients
• 15 The Genderqueer Identity (GQI) Scale: Measurement and validation of four distinct subscales with trans and LGBQ clinical and community samples in two countries
• 16 Predictive validity of the genderqueer identity scale (GQI): Differences between genderqueer, transgender and cisgender sexual minority individuals
• 17 “I love you as both and I love you as neither”: Romantic partners’ affirmations of nonbinary trans individuals
• 18 Gender neutral pronouns: A modest proposal
• 19 The problematic case of gender-neutral pronouns: A transgender writer’s response to “A modest proposal”
• 20 The problematic case of gender-neutral pronouns: A clinician’s response to “A Modest Proposal”
• 21 The problematic case of gender-neutral pronouns: A response to “A Modest Proposal”
• Index