International Non-Binary People’s Day

Sending out huge love to our non-binary siblings.

Today is International Non-Binary People’s Day. To say non-binary people have it rough is an understatement. Not only do they have the familiar struggles binary trans people face, such as inaccessible healthcare and rampant transphobia, they are still fighting to be recognised for who they are.

As part of the reform of the Gender Recognition Act, we prayed that non-binary people would be included, because at the moment the only options for updating your birth certificate are only male and female.

This means the current Gender Recognition Act doesn’t even serve the majority of transgender people. Out of the 14,000 transgender respondants to the Gov’s LGBT Survey, over HALF identified themselves as being non-binary. They are a core part of our community.

However, it *has* been confirmed that non-binary people are protected under the Equality Act following the case of Taylor vs Jaguar Land Rover. Jaguar Land Rover were ordered to pay £180,000 to a gender fluid employee who was mistreated by colleagues and ignored by management. Land Rover Jaguar must now improve their workplace and provide evidence to the courts on how they are improving.

It is a small win in the grand scheme of things. But we will keep fighting. We will keep looking after one another. We will listen and we will grow and we will speak out.

To our non-binary friends, know that we see you and we love you.

To everyone one else, be kind. Listen to non-binary people and respect them for who they are. Keep them in mind and involve them when drafting policy, and consider how your workplace or organisation can better welcome them.