They've given me so much freedom to explore my womanhood and my fluidity within that. I learned this through dating my boyfriend, who is non-binary. Trans is anyone who isn’t cis-aligned with their gender. Through my transition, I've understood that that's not necessarily what it means. I thought trans meant transgender, which was male to female or female to male. At the beginning of my transition, I didn't really understand. I tend to use the term trans +, because it encompasses any gender diversity. I am just a bit more fluid in my identity. Since being more comfortable physically within myself, the floor felt open again in terms of exploring how I actually felt as a woman. I’ve had facial feminisation surgery, bits of body work done as an affirming thing for me. I think I was compensating a lot because I hadn’t been on hormones that long. To me, any identity that isn't cis-aligned falls somewhere in between and against the binary, which is what non-binary literally means.īefore I had surgery, I was presenting hyper-femme. To me, being trans and non-binary are both quite similar, which I know some people might find a bit controversial. It felt like the middle place, which, now I’ve transitioned, I understand isn't necessarily true. I used non-binary as a stepping stone in feeling comfortable in who I was. It's taken me three years to unpick that – before I transitioned I identified as non-binary. I'm a non-binary trans woman, which can be confusing for some people who see them as conflicting identities. Photo credit: Eden-James Eden-James (she/they), 26, Stoke-on-Trent And whilst there are elements of that – because queerphobia exists in every society and community – it's really important for us to be visible, not only to teach our communities but to show wider society that we exist. There's a big perception by wider mainstream society that all Roma are inherently homophobic. I've always been one to buck the system – that also comes from being Romany, and adopted. I use genderqueer as a secondary term, because I feel like all of these identities are quite political. Gender fluidity neatly describes how I feel: everything is fluid, nothing is static. I fit under the general term, rather than the specific term. The way I see it, "trans" is both a specific term and a general term. I don't have that, which is why I wouldn't be comfortable calling myself trans. And quite often, not always, that comes with dysphoria. For me, transgender means that you’re generally at odds with what you were assigned. I know a lot of trans people, but I’ve never related to the term personally. I spent a lot of my life identifying structurally with being female. The world sees me as a woman, which is fine, it's not an insult. It's only really because of society that I perceive my gender as anything. Gender doesn’t really feature in my thinking, it’s almost like it sits on the outside of me and is superfluous to who I am as a person. However, non-binary is quite easy to explain – most people seem to have a grasp of what enby means nowadays. I sit underneath the non-binary umbrella, although I feel like even non-binary doesn't completely describe how I feel. Photo credit: Nico Nico (they/them), 41, Brighton I used to think of it as the classic "trapped in the wrong body" trope, but I’ve learned more and more in the 10 years since I came out that it’s not necessarily us that are trapped, it’s society that’s stuck. To me, trans is anybody who does not identify with their gender assigned at birth. Personally, I would say I identify as trans femme. There's a lot of diversions and changes and nuances to your gender it's complex. I don't know many Black trans people – I’m one of the few, and I’m always the one to say, hey, we’re here!īeing non-binary means you don't fit neatly into the binary of just man or woman. I’m part of an organisation called Trans Spectrum, which means I’m plugged into a lot of people locally in terms of activism. I know there are other people out there who are all of those things but there’s still quite a bit of stigma, being a person of colour where I am and being trans. Those things are pretty unique for my local area. I’m trans and non-binary and a person of colour. Photo credit: Aquila Hope Aquila Hope (they/them), 39, Birmingham
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