Nonbinary Quotes

“Workplaces tend to be reactive when it comes to accommodating trans and nonbinary folks. They wait until a trans or nonbinary person gets hired, then they scramble to figure out how to make the environment safe and accessible. In my ideal world, workplaces would do the work before a trans person gets hired or even before they are interviewed. They would figure out their HR policies, restroom facilities, and documentation (e.g., name badges, email addresses, electronic records, computer user accounts) ahead of time. There is always the chance of having employees who do not disclose their trans status or identity, so waiting for the first “out” or vocal trans person to report problems is not really an equitable approach.”
― Micah Rajunov, Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity

“Being a token can be misleading at first. It can make you feel wanted, admired, and special. Who doesn’t want to feel that way, especially after a lifetime of not feeling seen or validated? You hear the message “We really value your unique perspective,” which really means “You have something we want from you!” I have to admit that I’ve been lured in by this message, along with my own savior complex and sense of overresponsibility. When you become a token, it’s hard not feel owned by a system that continually pats itself on the back for being so open-minded and progressive for hiring you while simultaneously putting you in your place. Good intentions say nothing about a system’s capacity to change. For me, even monetary compensation is no longer the main motivator for being cast as the token because I know there are many hidden, unacknowledged costs, and I choose self-love and self-respect.”
― Micah Rajunov, Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity

“It’s not that I don’t want to wear my femme clothes to work; it’s that I know as soon as I do, my entire nonbinary identity will be disregarded. I won’t be seen as “trans enough”—my clothes will give people permission to treat me like a woman or feel entitled to use the wrong pronouns. Even people who claim to be accepting of nonbinary gender still expect that our expression must deviate from the norms associated with our sex assigned at birth.”
― Micah Rajunov, Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity

“Perhaps all my shifts from room to room were just social camouflage, but that wouldn't convey the magic of catharsis. Every bed-bound woman saw in me what they needed most, mistaking a single part for a multifaceted whole. Of course for me that resulted in terrible frustration mottled with a wonderful joy. For who on Earth can shape-shift through such dramatic social roles if not the genderqueer? Everyone in the transgender revolution knows how it feels to be mistaken, their pronouns casualties of misassumption. And while I wish I could attest to some resolution, to be genderqueer is to be in the thick of it.”
― Alex Stitt, Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity

“The woman in me cannot be researched.”
― féi hernandez, Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity

“The dress code of "business casual" is highly gendered, and I have to decide which "drag" to wear to work.”
― Sand C. Chang, Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity

“We are dreaming things that a previous generation never imagined, but those dreams are sometimes night terrors too, frustrated visions of our oppression.”
― S.E. Smith, Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity