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Découverte de la non-binarité : le témoignage de Cami

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    Even if you don't understand,
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    You can still suppport us.
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    Our identity remains valid,
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    and it exists.
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    "Testimonials: Non-binary Identities"
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    I'm Cami, I'm 22, I'm non-binary,
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    and I'm here to talk to you about non-binary identities.
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    Non-binary is an umbrella term
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    which includes all gender identites
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    that are neither exclusively masculine
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    nor exclusively feminine.
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    This can include a-gender identities-
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    those that involve the absence of gender or a neutral gender-
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    or this can include fluid identities,
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    as if we imagined gender as a spectrum with two ends:
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    Maculine and feminine.
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    One may have a position on this spectrum that shifts.
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    Including those who are genderfluid, demigender, pangender, etc.
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    I never really identified with femininity.
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    When I was 18,
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    I started questioning my gender identity.
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    And I met a trans man
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    who I spent some time with
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    and together, we found the right words to describe my identity-
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    which is non-binary.
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    I think that since
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    he had much more information than I did,
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    he was able to help me find the words
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    regarding my identity.
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    Gender identity is who we are;
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    it's the gender we feel,
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    that we live, and experiment,
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    and gender expression
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    is what we present to others,
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    It's the way that we express this identity.
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    So, one can have a gender identity,
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    for example, masculine :
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    So, one may be a man,
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    and still have a gender expression that is feminine,
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    with many markers considered feminine in society.
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    For example, Bilal Hassani,
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    who is a man
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    with a feminine gender expression.
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    I told my parents that I was non-binary
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    and that I wanted to change my name
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    at the same time.
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    I was 20 years old,
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    so it was two years ago.
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    My mother took it very well;
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    she was already well versed in the topic of gender.
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    She was open-minded and very supportive.
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    I felt safe.
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    With my father, it was a bit more complicated.
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    It took me longer to tell him,
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    and I didn’t do it in person.
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    I sent him a message actually,
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    because it was easier for me to handle.
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    He reacted fairly well,
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    he said he didn’t understand everything, but that he would be there to support me
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    and that it didn’t change anything for him
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    and he still loved me the same.
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    With my grandmother, it was a little harder,
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    because it was something very foreign to her.
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    She grew up in the country, then moved to Paris,
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    She lived with my grandfather for 50 years.
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    She was part of a very cis-heteronormative framework
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    where she had never questioned her own identity
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    or others' identities.
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    So when I told her about it, she was a bit taken aback.
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    but she was always careful
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    to treat me in the best possible way.
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    She has made enormous efforts,
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    and almost never makes mistakes anymore
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    in using my chosen name.
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    I applied for a name change in 2019.
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    I submitted a request
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    to the town hall of the city where I lived.
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    I picked up an application form, which I filled out
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    with testimonies from my loved ones
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    stating that they used the name Cami to refer to me.
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    I asked my school to provide a letter of support, etc.
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    Then I submitted my file and waited a few months-
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    It varies depending on the town hall
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    and my request for a name change was approved.
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    Misgendering someone
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    means addressing them
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    using incorrect pronouns.
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    So, misgendering a non-binary person
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    who has explicitly stated
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    that they use neutral pronouns like “they”
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    and instead referring to them with masculine or feminine pronouns.
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    Personally, I use feminine pronouns when speaking
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    and neutral when writing.
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    And generally, I tend to mention this right away:
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    I prefer to be addressed with feminine pronouns in speech.
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    Then, if the person doesn't do it on their own
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    and you want to be sure you're doing it right,
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    you can ask them their pronouns directly
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    or wait until the person refers to themselves
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    so you can follow their lead.
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    In the videos I have made previously,
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    there were many comments
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    that actually invalidate our identities,
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    that deny our gender expressions
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    and our gender identities.
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    I hardly ever read those comments
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    because I know that most of them
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    are either malicious or very insensitive
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    and that they would only upset me.
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    I once participated in a documentary
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    where people claimed that being non-binary was just a trend,
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    that it had only emerged a few years ago
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    in the United States, 10 years ago,
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    and that it was tied to fashion,
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    like the unisex clothing trend, etc.
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    Which is completely false.
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    And I think that it is also
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    a very white-centered and Eurocentric perspective.
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    Because in many cultures,
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    multiple gender identities exist,
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    that were completely erased
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    during colonization quite simply.
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    Quite often, we hear that it is problematic
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    or bothersome
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    to create more and more identity categories
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    to identify and re-identify oneself, etc.
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    But I think that it is extremely important
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    to be able to first identify with something
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    in order to detach oneself from an identity
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    that was arbitrarily assigned to us
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    I think that yes, it is necessary
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    to also find oneself in a community
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    to build connections
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    and know that we are not alone,
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    that there is support,
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    that there are other people like us
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    who understand us and who listen to us.
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    If I had just one thing to say,
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    I think it would be that even if you don’t understand,
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    you can still support and accompany others.
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    You can learn, you can deconstruct ways of thinking,
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    you can educate yourself,
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    you can help your loved ones,
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    even if you don’t fully grasp the entirety
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    of what defining their gender identity means.
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    Another thing is that
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    all non-binary people
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    have different ways of expressing their identity.
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    Some people will undergo medical transitions,
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    take hormones, have surgeries,
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    while others will not.
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    And regardless of the way in which
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    someone transitions socially, medically, or not at all,
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    our identity remains legitimate and it exists.
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    And there are many of us.
Title:
Découverte de la non-binarité : le témoignage de Cami
Description:

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Video Language:
French
Duration:
05:55

Afrikaans subtitles

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