In this episode Ziezy talks about using They/Them Pronouns and how people tend to conflate Non Binary with being a quirky cis person with They/Them pronouns ignoring the vast diversity and nuance within the Non Binary community. Ziezy encourages allies to keep using peoples pronouns but also find the other ways in which they can affirm a Non Binary individuals gender identity. Ziezy highlights that so many people are guilty of learning new pronouns an then treating that individual in the same gendered way as they were assigned. Non Binary is more than just a change of pronouns and is different for each individual. Thats why its important to be an open minded, non forceful and encouraging ally. De-centre yourself and find out the different ways you can affirm somebody's gender identity as well as using their correct pronouns and name.-

Pronouns are the bare minimum in the gender expansive community, they are a supplement to our overall identity but not our overall identity. We love when people use our correct pronouns of course we do but if every other way that person treats you is entrenched in cisnormative binary standards then what's the point in being affirmed with a correct pronoun. Its almost bare minimum performative ally ship. 

Ziezy opens up about their experiences and feeling around gender growing up and explains how Non Binary is more about what you are not than what you are. They also discuss how not feeling comfortable within society at various intersections has had a negative affect on their mental health from childhood. They explain how unsettling it can feel as a Non Binary person when your a child trying to figure stuff out when you don't really understand your feelings. They also discuss the gatekeeping nature of being Trans and gender expansive in the 90s and early 2000s when they were growing up. All these factors made things hard to be open or even to fully understand these gender feelings. So when people treat Non Binary people as a cis person with They/Them pronouns (or other gender neutral or binary pronouns) it really erases their experience of gender in an almost dismissive way. So many cis people don't realise that Non Binary falls under the Trans umbrella and that we share a lot of common ground with our binary Trans siblings the only difference is where we land on the gender spectrum. 

Ziezy wishes everyone in the community a happy and safe new year if you are celebrating.

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