Even today there are people who don’t believe in existence of gays, lesbians or bisexuals, what to say about nonbinary gender identities.
That’s why you have a chance to create a correct and pleasant image of nonbinary or androgynous folk. You can stop the emerging odd gossips and stereotypes about nonbinary genders.
People are scared of the unknown. But you can give them an opportunity to know. You can teach them how to like and trust us. And the more coming-outs of the nonbinaries happen, the better our mutual support will be.
We’ll cease being the black sheep when more of us will become visible. And if there’s lots of us, and we’re in every corner of the Earth - it means that we’re not so “queer”. It means we’re just one of the varieties of “normal”.
I know there are some societies and countries where coming-out equals death penalty. I grew up in a country where my set of identities provoked negativity and disgust, but I’ve never met a deadly kind of circumstances. But I know that I could never live and socialize as a binary cisgender person with a cut one-sided sexuality and interests. To be cis-binary is only one of the millions of ways to live. And I’m sure many people think it’s the only normal way just because they still can’t come out even to themselves. The existing mechanisms of upbringing and culture still limit and chain them.
I wouldn’t be able to live the other way, to cheat myself and change my nature. I think I’d hate myself if I’d have to hide. For me staying myself, staying an individual, having a human mind that identifies itself with no fear is larger than life, I guess.
A life with no full self-identification, with no harmony with yourself and the world, a life which gives no odds to love and accept yourself is not a life, but only existence.
When we come out, we improve life for ourselves and for our friends who are still in the closet. I had to come out several times: with my sexuality, my gender, my attitude to animals, food and religions. Being vegan and denying the religious dogmas is also discriminated and it’s a big pain in the ass. No less, I have to come out each day when I meet new people, introduce myself and continuously correct the wrong pronouns. Yeah,I’m very strict in this issue, as I’ve already said. It’s very important for me to feel the way I am and not to fall before anyone. Thanks to this principles I was able to create a positive image and be openly socially active in the country where majorities are very negative to same sex marriage and have never heard about androgynes. Even LGBT activists here think of nonbinary people as of mentally ill or just a joke.
I don’t ask anyone to be tolerant to me. I don’t care what some ill-minded people think of me. Despite their privileges in the heteronormative cisgender society they are nothing, and I’ve achieved much with my open and free mind.
I don’t need any permissive tolerance. I am the same part of society as any of them. I will demand the same attitude and the same rights as a normal useless cisgender heterosexual individual has.
My blog: http://trixter-i-am.tumblr.com