I want to clear some things up about non-binary identities real quick. I won't make it too incredibly long but there are a lot of misconceptions about what being non-binary even means.

(a thread)

First off, for some reason, a lot of people think that non-binary is some kind of magical third-gender all by itself. It's not. Non-binary is an umbrella term, that categorizes ANY gender that is not binary (basically male & female.) There are MANY non-binary identities.

Although some people feel comfortable JUST calling themselves non-binary, instead of a label that falls under non-binary, and while that is totally okay & valid, that is not exactly what non-binary really means. It's not really a gender in & of itself.

Also, a lot of people seem to think that non-binary is just a complete lack of gender. It's not. again, there are MANY identities that fall under non-binary, and non-binary is not its own gender or its own lack of gender. Here are some of the "main" identities that fall under -

non-binary, although I'm only going to list & define a few of them. There are many, many more that I won't get into right now.

agender - lack of gender (which is what a lot of people seem to think all of non-binary is.)
bigender - identifying as two genders.

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genderfluid - It's exactly what it sounds like. Gender fluidity. A genderfluid person's gender may constantly be changing, and how they identify, how they express their gender, and what pronouns they go by may change day-to-day, week-to-week, etc.

demigenders - a gender that describes someone who only partially identifies as a certain gender. There is demigirl, which is someone who partially identities with being a girl, and demiboy which is someone who partially identifies with being a boy.

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Demigirls may go by she/her and they/them, but they may also go by he/him as well. Demiboys may go by he/him and they/them, but may also go by she/her as well. Some people who are a demigender may also use neopronouns or xenopronouns. It all depends on the person.

These are some of the main non-binary identities that you see/come across the most but as I said before, there are many, many more. Such as the gender I identify as, which is pangender. Pangender is similar to genderfluid in some ways, but they are not the same. (+)

Unlike genderfluid people, pangender people identify as all genders at once. Instead of our gender expression & pronouns changing day-to-day, week-to-week, etc., we go by they/them, she/her, and he/him all at once, and feel androgynous, feminine, and masculine all at once -

as well. Some pangender people may also go by neopronouns or xenopronouns as well as the "main" pronouns; again, it all depends on what we feel individually, we are not all the same.

Agender, bigender, genderfluid, demigenders, pangender, etc. ALL fall under non-binary. Non-binary is not just someone feeling genderless and going by they/them pronouns. It CAN be that, but it can also be literally anything else that is not a binary gender.

People who identify as a xenogender or go by neopronouns & xenopronouns are non-binary as well.

Another common misconception is that someone who identifies as being a woman or a man HAS to go by the pronouns often associated with those genders. That is simply not true. -

We obviously can see that this is not true because of demigenders. Pronouns do not ALWAYS equal gender; it varies from person to person. Again, for example, a demigirl is someone who identifies as a girl partially, but may not go by only she/her pronouns, or may not even go by -

those pronouns at ALL. They may identify partially as a girl, but do not feel comfortable being referred to as she/her, and that is totally okay. A lot of people think that saying "pronouns do not always equal gender" is transphobic. It's not, UNLESS that assumption is made -

for ALL trans or non-binary people. But it varies from person to person. A person's pronouns may be directly related to their gender and what they identify as, or it may not. Again we see this through demigenders; BUT, it varies from person to person. And not every trans or -

non-binary person is the same. This is also why they/them & he/him lesbians and she/her & they/them gays are 100% valid. A they/them or he/him lesbian may identify as a woman but may not feel comfortable going by she/her pronouns. Because PRONOUNS DO NOT ALWAYS EQUAL GENDER!!!

(I'd also like to clear up that lesbians are women OR women-aligned people, attracted to women or women-aligned people; so demigirls can be lesbians, demiboys however cannot, even if they go by she/her pronouns too. Masc-aligned non-binary people cannot be lesbians but -

fem-aligned non-binary people can, if that makes sense.)
This is the same for she/her or they/them gays.

btw if there's anything that needs to be added to this portion about they/them & he/him lesbians, or she/her & they/them gays, let me know. I don't want to sound ignorant so if there's anything I missed that may be misinterpreted, PLEASE tell me & I'll clear that up! :)

If you have any questions about non-binary identities, she/her or they/them gays, they/them or he/him lesbians, or anything mentioned in this thread, or even anything NOT mentioned in this thread that you have a question about, please just ask me & I'll try my best to help -

- clear things up for you! :)

One more thing I'd like to add about non-binary lesbians or non-binary gays is that saying that non-binary people who are only attracted to one gender "have" to identify as one of the already existing terms for non-binary people only attracted to women or only attracted to men -

is EXTREMELY damaging to non-binary people. You do NOT get to force non-binary people into a box and tell us that we have to identify as one sexuality or another. A fem-aligned non-binary person may identify as a lesbian if they are only attracted to women & a masc-aligned -

non-binary person may identify as gay if they are only attracted to men. YOU do not get to decide that for other people! Stop gatekeeping how other people "get" to identify just because YOU refuse to understand that these identities are valid!

I know I said in the beginning of this thread that I wouldn't make it too incredibly long: I was wrong. This turned out to be a lot longer than I intended.