Découverte de la non-binarité : le témoignage de Cami

Even if you don’t get it

You can always support us
and by an ally

Our identity is legitimate

It exist.

I'm Cami, I'm 22 years old
I'm non-binary

and I'm here to talk to you
about non-binary identities

"Non-binary" is an umbrella term

that groups
all gender identities

that are neither
exclusively masculine

nor feminine.

So, you could have agender

"a" being without gender
neutral per say

or it can be
all fluid genders.

If we were to imagine
gender as a spectrum

with two ends

- masculine and feminine -

we could see a cursor,
moving

including all, gender fluid,
demi-gender, pangender, etc.

I never really identified
as feminine

At 18,

I was already questioning

my gender identity

and I met this trans man

with who I was with
for some time

and we were able
to find the term

for my identity,
which was non-binary

and I think that

because he was
more informed

than me
that he knew

how to find the terms

on my identity

Gender identity,
it's who we are

It's the gender we feel inside

It's what we live,
what we experience

and gender expression

it's what we show people

it's the way
we express our identity

So we can have
a gender identity

For example: masculine

and we have a man

that would express his gender

as feminine,
with many features

that are "feminine"

Take for example:
Bilal Hassani

that identifies as a man

and expresses himself
in a feminine way.

I told my parents

that I was non-binary

and that I wanted
to change my name

at the same time.

I was 20,
so 2 years ago

And um

My mom took it well.

She was already exposed
to gender questioning

desensitised enough
to be a safe space.

I felt safe.

My dad was a more sensitive.

It took me a bit more time
to talk to him about it

and I didn't do it

in person.

I sent him a message

because it was easier
for me to do

and he took it well enough

He didn't understand everything

but in any case,
he would be there for me

and that
it didn't change anything

that he loved me
either way.

For my grandmother,
that is a different story

because it was an
"out-of-reach" topic for her.

She grew up
in the countryside

then moved to Paris

She stayed with my grandfather
for 50 years.

She lived in a very
cis heteronormative world

where she never questioned
her own identity

or the identity of others.

So, when I told her,
she was flabbergasted

but she maintained
her composure

the best way she could
with me

She makes a lot of effort