Breaking the Binary

Breaking the Binary Gender goes beyond the traditional identities.

By Sophia Belshe With quotes gathered Editor in Chief by Addie Soyski *NAME HAS BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT IDENTITY Opinion Editor Copy Editor o one was really surprised,” junior Felix Johnson said about coming out as transgender male. “Everyone was kind of just like ‘finally, I know who you are now.’ Now it’s a problem that has disappeared.” Johnson began the process of coming out in seventh grade, when he came out to his brother and parents. “It’s sort of a big part of my life, because no one understands most of it,” Johnson said. Johnson is a member of Spectrum Club, the rebranded version the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). Spectrum works to provide a space for LGBTQ+ students, like Johnson, to meet and educate others about the LGBTQ+ community. According to senior and Spectrum co-president Lauren Bridson, people who aren’t currently involved in that community are also welcome to come ask questions and learn. “We try to educate. We do a lot of research and we have a lot of discussion-based meetings. But then we [also] have fun meetings where we’re watching YouTube videos of different people, always LGBT community, and their struggles, their stories,” Bridson said. “It’s just a really good time, because meeting every two weeks with people and sharing a vulnerable side of yourself, you get really close with the people in there.” For some members, being LGBTQ+ includes being at various places on the gender spectrum. The gender spectrum is a theoretical line that includes every gender identity, The gender spectrum is a theoretical line that with female on one end and male on the other. In between, includes every gender identity, with female identities range from transgender, nonbinary, agender, among countless others. A gender identity is how a person perceives on one end and male on the other. In between, their own gender, which is separate from birth sex, which is identities range from transgender, nonbinary, the sex assigned genetically at birth. “Anyone who feels like male sometimes, female other agender, among countless others. A gender times. Anyone who feels sometimes they identify as both or identity is how a person perceives their own neither. Anything that’s not strictly male or female is inside the gender spectrum,” Bridson said. gender, which is separate from birth sex, which Nonbinary student Alex* spoke to the issue of is the sex assigned genetically at birth. misgendering, or when someone refers to a person using a word, especially a pronoun, that does not correctly reflect the gender with which they identify. “Especially at school, I can’t be out as much as I would be out in other spaces, just because it’s such a mixed environment,” Alex said. “Some people have never heard of the term nonbinary, some people are so cool with it. In other spaces, it’s different, but here I kind of just have to grit my teeth and put up with it.” Some students also have fluid gender identity that is subject to change. “I would say that I use nonbinary as a blanket term, which is kind of like someone who doesn’t identify as the traditional identity of male or female. Probably closer to a fluid gender, but I’m not sure at this point,” Alex said. “I’m

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reluctant to say for sure, because identity changes.” The gender binary, or the classification of gender as two distinct, opposite forms of masculine and feminine, also applies to cisgender students, or people who identify as the sex they were assigned at birth. The gender binary is typically enforced by social norms that include clothes, hair and other gender stereotypes. Students like junior Trevan Baker break the gender binary by dressing in traditionally feminine clothes, despite identifying as a cisgender gay male. “The other day... I wore heels to school. And makeup,” Baker said. “[I] didn’t really care what people had to say about that. It was fun.” Politically, the issue of gender often comes up in the form of transgender rights. Bathroom Bills became an issue of national discussion in 2016. In North Carolina, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, more commonly known as HB2, was passed, stating that individuals may only use restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate. This law sparked backlash from LGBTQ+ advocates who said the bill was discriminatory against transgender people. The portion of the law regarding bathroom use based on gender assigned at birth was repealed and replaced with House Bill 142 in March, 2017. Proponents of Bathroom Bills say that enforcing the laws protects public safety, but no evidence exists to support the claim that sexual predators take advantage of laws and policies protecting transgender people to attack women and children in bathrooms. “You go to the bathroom to go to the bathroom, there’s almost never any ulterior motive,” Bridson said. In Kansas, no such Bathroom Bills have been passed. At South, students who don’t feel comfortable using one of the gender assigned bathrooms can utilize the bathroom in the nurse’s office. “Anyone can use it. It’s not designated for anyone,” nurse Angie York said. “Transgender, special needs, whatever, they can come use the restroom whenever they need to.” Following the Nov. 7 election, transgender woman Danica Roem of Virginia and transgender black woman Andrea Jenkins of Minnesota became the first openly trans people elected to U.S. public office. “It’s good to have diverse policy makers to represent everyone in this country,” sophomore Caroline Tuohey said. “We need a government that is as diverse as its citizens.” Students still feel there is more work to be done on the issue of transgender rights. “It’s like that big elephant in the room when it comes to gender,” Johnson said. “[It’s] there, but no one wants to talk about it.” Johnson said education about gender in schools could remedy the ignorance problem. “I feel like, in health class, they should talk about it,” Johnson said. “Everyone has to take it, it’s required, so I think they should have a little section about gender because that would just help [everyone] in general.” Bridson agrees that education is a primary way to combat problems facing the LGBTQ+ community. “A lot of it is seeing someone who’s different from yourself and immediately putting up this wall of ‘I’m not going to get to know you,’” Bridson said. “That’s what creates the border of where we could be in terms of progress and where we are is just a lot of not wanting to know, and a lot of immediately isolating someone because they’re a little bit different.”

“Especially at school, I can’t be out as much as I would be out in other spaces, just because it’s such a mixed environment.. Some people have never heard of the term nonbinary, some people are so cool with it. In other spaces, it’s different, but here I kind of just have to grit my teeth and put up with it.”

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