Non-binary

Non-binary (also written as nonbinary) or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is different from the sex assigned to them at birth, although some non-binary people do not consider themselves transgender.

Non-binary people may identify as an intermediate or separate third gender, identify with more than one gender or no gender, or have a fluctuating gender identity. Gender identity is separate from sexual or romantic orientation; non-binary people have various sexual orientations.

Non-binary people as a group vary in their gender expressions, and some may reject gender identity altogether. Some non-binary people receive gender-affirming care to reduce the mental distress caused by gender dysphoria, such as gender-affirming surgery or hormone replacement therapy.

Terms and definitions

The term genderqueer first appeared in queer zines of the 1980s and early 1990s. It gained prominence in the mid-1990s through activists, such as Riki Anne Wilchins, who used it to describe individuals deviating from traditional gender norms. In a 1995 newsletter published by The Transexual Menace, Wilchins wrote that the new fight against gender oppression was political and:

It's about all of us who are genderqueer: diesel dykes and stone butches, leatherqueens and radical fairies, nelly fags, crossdressers, intersexed, transexuals, transvestites, transgendered, transgressively gendered, and those of us whose gender expressions are so complex they haven't even been named yet.

Similar terms that preceded genderqueer included genderfuck and genderbender. In the context of 1990s early queer activism, genderqueer began as a political stance for resisting the gender binary; the term carried the non-normative and anti-assimilationist connotations of the recently reclaimed word queer. In 2002, the term had further dissemination through the anthology GenderQueer: Voices From Beyond the Sexual Binary.

Genderqueer evolved into both an umbrella term for identities outside the gender binary and an adjective or self-identity term for those who challenge or diverge from conventional gender norms, or who "queer" gender. The rise of the internet and public identification by celebrities brought the term genderqueer into mainstream awareness during the late 2000s and early 2010s.

The term non-binary was not in widespread use until the early 2010s, when it quickly increased in popularity and surpassed genderqueer as the most-used umbrella term for all people who do not exclusively identify as women/girls or men/boys. The popularity of non-binary is sometimes credited to the fact that it has a more neutral and less political connotation than genderqueer to many people. Some critics of non-binary dislike it because the term itself reinforces the concept of a binary.

Today, there is broad overlap in the meaning and usages of genderqueer and non-binary, although they still carry different connotations for many people. As umbrella terms, both are used to encompass a wide range of identities and expressions that transcend the binary gender categories of man and woman.

The term transgender often includes those who are genderqueer or non-binary, reflecting a broad spectrum of gender diversity. This inclusive usage dates back to at least 1992, with significant contributions from figures such as Leslie Feinberg and Kate Bornstein, who emphasized the shared experiences of "gender outlaws."

Other related umbrella terms include gender nonconforming, gender expansive, and gender diverse. Gender nonconforming usually refers to those whose gender expression does not match masculine or feminine gender norms, but it has been alternately used in some contexts (particularly prior to the widespread use of non-binary) to refer to people whose gender identities do not match binary gender norms. Some US organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign and Gender Spectrum use gender expansive to denote a broader range of gender identities and expressions than those typically associated with the binary gender system. Many organizations in Australia and the UK use gender diverse to refer to people who "[do] not conform to their society's norms or values when it comes to their gendered physicality, gendered identity, gender expression or combination of those factors."

The term enby, derived from the English pronunciation of the acronym NB for non-binary, is also sometimes used.

Additionally, being non-binary is associated with gender ambiguity. Androgyny (also androgyne) is often used to describe a blend of socially defined masculine and feminine traits. However, not all non-binary individuals are androgynous; some identify with traditionally masculine or feminine traits, use alternative descriptors such as masculine woman or feminine man, or experience or express themselves in ways that fluidly change between feminine and masculine at different times.

Being non-binary is also not the same as being intersex. Most intersex people identify as either men or women, although some identify as only non-binary, some identify as non-binary and genderfluid, while others identify as non-binary men or non-binary women. A national UK survey conducted in 2017 found that, of 1,980 intersex respondents, 38% identified as women, 32% as men, and 25% as non-binary.

Theories of non-binary gender

Gender is often framed as social or psychological and sex as biological; however, it is difficult to draw a clear line between them. For example, Julia Serano argues that gender identity arises from a range of interconnected social and biological determinants. A review of twin studies supports this position: the authors provide evidence that gender identity is a complex trait with a heritable polygenic component, which means that gender involves social determinants and a large number of genes each making a small contribution, rather than a single gender identity gene. Life experiences also shape our biology, since learning from experience produces structural changes in the brain.

One approach to understanding non-binary gender is the norm-relevancy account, developed by Katharine Jenkins. The core idea of this account is that the gendered norms people experience as relevant to them, such as how they should dress or behave in social situations, defines their gender – regardless of whether they actually comply with those norms. According to this account, someone in a society with dominant male and female genders is non‑binary if they experience elements of both male and female gender norms as relevant, or if neither set of norms feels relevant to them. The norms are not universal: they are assumed to vary across different places and periods of time.

Another account, developed by Robin Dembroff specifically for genderqueer identity, defines genderqueer as an example of a critical gender kind. A critical gender kind is one such that people who are that gender "collectively destabilize one or more core elements of the dominant gender ideology in that society". This contrasts with an uncritical gender kind, which aligns with and perpetuates dominant binary gender norms, such as the assumed link between someone's role in sexual reproduction and their gender. On Dembroff's account, the approach associated with the gender critical movement would count as an uncritical gender kind.

Dembroff emphasises that this destabilization is carried out by genderqueer people as a group rather than individually. Examples of how genderqueer people collectively enact this destabilisation include using they/them or neopronouns; expressing their gender in ways that challenge binary norms, both individually and in how they navigate gender roles in relationships; and alternating between spaces that are socially coded as "male" and "female".

Identities

Agender

Agender individuals, also known as genderless, gender-free, non-gendered, or ungendered, have no gender at all. This group represents a spectrum of identities that diverge from conventional gender norms. A 2017 analysis of surveys of gender identity found that, of the transgender participants, 14% identified as agender. Gender Census, an international survey of non-binary people, found in 2025 that 25% of participants identified as agender.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, which added an entry for agender in 2016, the first recorded use of the word was in 1996, as "A-gender", in an article in the Independent. In 2014, the agender flag was created by Salom X, and "agender" and "neutrois" were among the custom gender options added to Facebook and to OkCupid. In 2017, Judge Amy Holmes Hehn ruled that Patch, an agender resident of Portland, could be legally identified as agender.

Bigender