2024-05-13 00:07:03
The person who absolutely conquered Eurovision with his impressive performance and song did not hide that the victory is particularly important not only for him, but also for the whole community of so-called non-binary people.
Nemo spoke more than once at Eurovision about the fact that the world should understand non-binary people. Nemo himself openly announced this in 2017 in an Instagram message when he introduced the song “This Body”.
“We haven’t talked about it publicly yet, but some of you know: I don’t identify as male or female. I’m just Nemo. I look at gender like a galaxy. I imagine myself as a little star somewhere in it. This is how I feel most myself,” Nemo said at the time.
It is true that a number of questions about what a non-binary person is have appeared on the Internet.
Lrytas.lt reminds of the previously published interview with Ieva Laugalyte, an expert at the Office of the Equal Opportunities Controller, about what non-binary gender identity is.
– If a person presents himself as non-binary, what does that mean?
– We live in a system where it is agreed upon that there are two clearly defined genders with very specific traits assigned to them. But in reality, what scientists really say, gender is much more complex, complicated and fluid than the two boxes of “woman” and “man” into which we are used to classifying people.
Individuals with non-binary identities do not fit into the framework drawn by society and exist outside of the binary (composed of two members) perception of gender. Identity itself is very broad and can mean different things to different non-binary people. In short, individuals with non-binary identities do not self-identify as either male or female, perhaps both male and female, perhaps somewhere on the gender spectrum. This identity essentially includes any perception of one’s gender that falls outside of the rigidly defined binary male-female gender system.
– Does the identity of persons who identify themselves as non-binary gender fall under the LGBTI+ acronym?
– I often hear the question whether people with non-binary gender identities fall under the umbrella of transgenderism. By definition, transgender people are those whose gender identity (how we perceive our gender) does not match the gender they were assigned at birth. According to this definition, non-binary people fall on the transgender spectrum, but not all people of non-binary identities self-identify as transgender(s). By the way, few people know that people who consider themselves to be the same gender assigned at birth are called cisgender.
When we talk about transgender people, we often only think of transgender women and men. But there are also quite a few transgender people of non-binary gender identities. Some of them choose medical or administrative gender confirmation procedures. There is no opposition between non-binary and other gender identities. There are people who are on one side of the gender spectrum, there are those who are on the other, and there are those who are somewhere on the spectrum or even outside of it.
– How is the sexual orientation of non-binary gender identities defined?
– Gender identity and sexual orientation are two completely different aspects of personal identity. The experiences of people with non-heterosexual, transgender and non-binary identities are very different. We place these people under one umbrella – LGBTI+ – because the roots of society’s hostility, prejudice and discrimination are the same. Disrespect and violations of equal opportunity stem from what I talked about earlier – rigid societal expectations and attitudes about how women and men should behave and look.
Sexual orientation describes what gender we are romantically, emotionally and/or sexually attracted to. People often don’t think about it, but absolutely everyone has a sexual orientation and gender identity. It’s just that the majority of people never think about it because their sexual orientation and/or gender identity conforms to societal norms. People with non-binary gender identities, just like all other people, have a sexual orientation that can be very diverse – heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, etc.
– If we talk about the protection of LGBTI+ rights, there is a lack of many specific legal acts and laws that ensure rights. Are there any procedures in Lithuania that ensure the inclusion and equality of non-binary gender identity persons?
– Specifically, non-binary people would benefit most if the choice of gender was not limited in personal identity documents: it would be possible to choose not only between the categories of “woman” and “man” or not to indicate gender at all. For example, not so long ago, the legal regulation in Iceland was changed – now people can indicate “female”, “male” or non-binary gender identity on their identity documents.
We could also talk about broader legal initiatives that are necessary for both non-binary gender identities and other transgender individuals. First of all, the inclusion of gender identity as a characteristic that prohibits discrimination in the Lithuanian legal system, for example, the Equal Opportunities Law. This would provide certain legal guarantees and security. It is also important to ensure legal recognition of gender identity, based on the principle of personal self-determination, and by applying fast, transparent and accessible procedures, to enable access to quality health care services.
– In the Western democratic world, more and more attention is paid to personal pronouns. In the English language, people of non-binary gender identities often choose the pronoun they (this pronoun is translated as “jie/jos” in Lithuanian, but does not denote any gender). What pronouns do people of non-binary gender identities use in Lithuania?
– English, in this case, is definitely more convenient, non-binary persons often choose the pronoun they. We do not have such a pronoun in the Lithuanian language, but no matter what language we speak, it is necessary to respect a person’s right to self-definition and use such pronouns as a person describes himself/herself.
It is natural for people to want to find a single answer that sums everything up, but there is no such answer. People of non-binary gender identities use a variety of pronouns – he, she, they or hers. I would advise you to just ask or listen to the person talking about himself.
The Lithuanian language is generally very ingrained and sometimes we don’t even notice how we refer to people using nouns according to the assumed gender of people. For example, when addressing “well, girls, let’s go”. Such situations can make people of non-binary identities feel uncomfortable, so gender identity diversity should be considered.
– Why is it important to use those pronouns that people attribute to themselves when communicating with people and talking about them?
– This is a matter of basic respect for a person. When conducting trainings or speaking about LGBTI+ identities, I often say that sometimes we don’t need to understand everything in order to respect a person or certain social groups. People with non-binary identities face uncomfortable situations where pronouns or nouns that do not match their identity are used every day. This creates an atmosphere where their identity is invisible, disrespected and not considered real.
I have repeatedly asked people how they would feel if, for example, a female colleague at work called her a man. Most of them answered that they would not really feel nice and correct people, would not understand why others do not respect them. People of non-binary gender identities feel exactly the same way.
– When thinking about what a non-binary gender identity person looks like, the first impression might be that they should be quite androgynous (both “masculine” and “feminine”) in appearance. Is that so?
– I often come across the notion that non-binary people must meet some appearance expectations. Attributing clothes, hairstyles or make-up to a certain gender is a cultural convention, they have no gender in themselves. Does a woman have to wear a skirt to be a woman? No, you don’t have. The same goes for people with non-binary gender identities – they express their gender identity in a wide variety of ways and do not have to conform to any standards.
– In popular Western culture, there is an increasing number of famous people who openly say that they are non-binary. Could you please provide some examples?
– There are really quite a few famous people, but I would single out musicians Demi Lovato, Sam Smith and Elliot Page from the film industry. These individuals sum up everything I’ve talked about well – they are very different in their identity, appearance and presentation. Examples like these reveal that people with non-binary gender identities are very diverse.
2024-05-13 00:07:03