Berlin. The Swiss act Nemo won the ESC 2024 and identifies as a non-binary person. A small glossary with explanations.
The name Nemo is aptly chosen: It goes back to the Disney animated film “Find Nemo” from 2003, which tells the story of the clownfish of the same name. What needs to be said: Clownfish change their gender throughout their lives, from male to female. The Swiss act Nemo, winner of the ESC 2024, sings in the song “The Code” about breaking out of classic gender patterns and identifying himself as non-binary.
What exactly does that mean? With the multitude of terms for Gender identities It can quickly become confusing if you don’t look into the topic in more detail. A distinction must be made between medical aspects and, in some cases, self-chosen gender roles. An overview of terms whose usage is often anything but uniform:
Gender identities: non-binary, trans, diverse & Co. – the most important terms explained
Cis people/cis gender: Anyone who identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth is called a cisgender person. This applies to the vast majority of the population. The Latin “cis” means “this side” – as the opposite of “trans”, “beyond” and “above”.
Intersexuality: In intersex people, not all gender-determining characteristics such as chromosomes, hormones and sexual organs can be biologically clearly assigned to only one gender. They have – completely or partially – male and female characteristics. Another old term is hermaphrodite. The Latin “inter” means, among other things, “between”.
Non-binary: The term is used as a self-description by people who cannot be classified into the binary gender system, i.e. who do not identify exclusively as men or women.
Divers: Diverse is a legal civil status that has existed in Germany since 2018 and in Austria since 2019 – but not yet in Switzerland. It enables intersex people to officially register their gender.
Transgender: Usually includes all those whose social gender is not – or not always – identical to their biological gender. However, not every transgender person wants to change their body the way many transsexuals want to. To summarize the different groups, the prefix with an asterisk is sometimes used as a generic term: trans*. This is intended to signal openness and point out the diversity of self-images that can change over the course of a life. Some people are talking about transgender people here.
Transsexuality: Describes the strong feeling of having been born with the “wrong” gender. Those affected often feel the need to adjust their body to their preferred gender using hormones or surgery.
Eurovision Song Contest 2024: These are the ESC participants
Transvestite: People who feel the need to change into the clothes of the opposite sex for longer or shorter periods of time. They also adapt their hair, accessories and movement style – knowing that they do not belong to this gender.
Queer: The word from English is translated very differently: strange, strange, gay – sometimes also as a swear word. Politically, it became an umbrella term for various fringe groups in the USA. In our country today, the word queer often summarizes many people who perceive their identity, their sexuality or both as deviating from the male-female norm. This can also include asexuality, people in more than one relationship, and those who transition between gender roles.
Abbreviations like LGBT and LSBTTIQ: LGBT stands for the English terms Lesbian (lesbian), Gay (gay), Bi (bisexual) and Trans. Sometimes there is also talk of LSBTTIQ, which then means lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, intersex and queer. However: These are often insider vocabulary. In addition, not everyone feels comfortable under the big roof: trans people sometimes don’t have that much in common with gays and lesbians – and vice versa.