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Even if you don't understand,
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you can always
support and be there for us.
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Our identity is legitimate and real.
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Testimonies: Non-binary Identities
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My name is Cami, I'm 22 years old,
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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that encompasses all gender identities
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that are neither exclusively masculine
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nor exclusively feminine.
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This could mean being agender,
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without a gender, which is neutral,
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or it could include all fluid identities.
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If you imagine gender as a spectrum
with masculine and feminine poles,
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some people move along the spectrum
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like genderfluid, demigender,
pangender people, etc.
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I never really identified with femininity.
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At 18, I began questioning
my gender identity.
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I met a trans man,
and we dated for a while.
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Together, we found the words
to describe my identity: non-binary.
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He was much more informed than I was,
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so he helped me find the right words.
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Gender identity is who we are.
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It's the gender we feel and experience.
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Gender expression is what
we show to others.
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It's how we express our identity.
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Someone might have a
masculine gender identity
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but express themselves
in a feminine way
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with markers seen as feminine in society.
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Like Bilal Hassani for example,
a man with feminine gender expression.
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I told my parents I was non-binary.
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I also said I wanted to change my name.
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I was 20, so that was two years ago.
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My mom took it very well.
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She was already very knowledgeable about
gender issues.
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She was very supportive and safe.
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With my dad, it was a bit harder.
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I didn't tell him in person.
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I messaged him, it was easier that way.
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He reacted pretty well.
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He said he didn't fully understand,
but would support me regardless.
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That his love for me hadn't changed.
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For my grandma, it was tricky
because this was a foreign concept to her.
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She grew up in the countryside
and then moved to Paris.
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She lived with my grandpa for 50 years.
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Her world was very heteronormative.
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She never questioned her own identity
or that of others.
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When I talked to her about it,
she was quite taken aback.
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But she always made sure to treat me well.
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She makes a lot of effort and hardly ever
uses my deadname anymore.
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I applied for a name change in 2019.
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I applied at the town hall
of the city where I lived.
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I picked up a form and filled it out
with testimonials from my friends
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who explained that they used
the name "Cami" when addressing me.
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I also asked my school
for a support letter.
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After submitting my application,
I waited a few months.
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It depends on the city hall,
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and then my name change was approved.
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Misgendering is addressing someone
by using the wrong pronouns.
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For example, using gendered pronouns
for someone who explicitly uses "they",
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like calling them "he" or "she".
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Personally, I use feminine pronouns
when speaking, neutral when writing.
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I usually mention my preference right away.
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I prefer to be addressed
using feminine pronouns when speaking.
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If someone doesn't do this automatically
and you want to address them correctly,
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you can directly ask for their pronouns
or wait for them to specify their gender.
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In videos I've made before,
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there were many comments
invalidating our gender identities,
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and rejecting our gender expression.
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I don't read those comments much
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Because I know they are mostly
malicious or very clumsy.
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They would only end up hurting me.
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I once participated in a documentary
that said being non-binary was a trend.
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That it appeared in the U.S.
just ten years ago,
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and was really just linked to
fashion trends like unisex clothing.
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That's completely false.
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I think it's a very white,
Eurocentric perspective.
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Many cultures that had multiple genders
were entirely erased during colonization.
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Often, people say it's problematic
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or bothersome to keep creating categories
to identify and re-identify ourselves.
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However, I think it's crucial to be able
to identify with something first,
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to disassociate from an identity
that was arbitrarily assigned to us.
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It's necessary to find community,
to create bonds, to know you're not alone,
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know that there's support,
that there are others who understand us.
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If I had one thing to say,
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it'd be that even if you don't understand,
you can still support us and stand with us.
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You can learn,
you can dismantle old ways of thinking.
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You can educate yourself
and help your loved ones,
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even if you don't fully grasp
the meaning of their gender identity.
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Secondly, all non-binary people express
their identity differently.
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Some undergo medical transitions,
use hormones or get surgery. Others don't.
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No matter how you transition,
socially, medically, or not at all,
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Our identity is legitimate and real.
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And there are quite a lot of us.