I& #39;m non-binary. My pronouns are they/them/theirs.

No, dude/man/bro/sir are not correct. They& #39;re little reminders of two things.

One, that some people who dont understand that react by ignoring it.

Two, that it& #39;s not important enough for me to care.

I care, every time.

It& #39;s been especially hard during quarantine to find all of the "relatable content" be held to the gender binary, to be misgendered often, and for the they/them in my name here and elsewhere to be ignored.

If you dont honor my pronouns I feel no respect from you.

And hey, you dont have to respect me. None of this has to be your problem, on your radar, or a thought in your mind.

In that same way, at all junctions possible, you are not my problem, on my radar, or a thought in my mind.

What I carry is the internal struggle being provoked.

As a Black person I am exTREMELY used to being disrespected constantly. But in the same way that I value my Blackness, so much that I made it my name mind you, it& #39;s important to know that if you interact with me, my values are clear and my boundary& #39;s lines are drawn in bold.

My name is Orion Black. Or whatever I tell you when you ask. My pronouns are they/them/theirs. There& #39;s room for mistakes because I get it. I look like a man to you and that& #39;s on social programming.

But if it& #39;s not worth the effort to you, you ain& #39;t worth the effort to me.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✌🏾" title="Victory hand (medium dark skin tone)" aria-label="Emoji: Victory hand (medium dark skin tone)">

P.S.

It is extremely rare that I want or need an apology. I want, more than anything, for people to do better instead of letting me know how much it hurt them to misgender me.

A "Sorry, let me repeat that," or "Sorry, them," is the move. And then we keep movin.