More than 1 million nonbinary adults live in the US, study finds

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/06/22/first-population-estimate-lgbtq-non-binary-adults-us-is-out-heres-why-that-matters/

The U.S. Census doesn’t ask about gender identity. Until now, no population estimate of nonbinary LGBTQ adults in the United States existed.
There are about 1.2 million nonbinary LGBTQ adults in the United States, according to the first broad-based population estimate of this kind, which was released Tuesday. That’s just less than the population of Dallas, Texas.

The Williams Institute, a research center focused on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy, conducted the study. Its data offers a portrait of a slice of the LGBTQ community that has long been ignored.

The data reveals a growing group, largely composed of young people, that mirrors the mental health struggles experienced by the wider LGBTQ community. At a time when measures that could broaden protections for gender minorities such as nonbinary people face uncertain political fates, researchers hope this estimate can show nonbinary people are a significant subgroup of the LGBTQ population.

How did we go from nobody having heard of non-binary to 1.2 million so rapidly, exactly?

How did we go from nobody being gay to millions? Why are autism diagnoses increasing? A more open and accepting society allows people to explore themselves and be open about their experiences.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

I like how everyone is reading way too much into this when I just asked a simple question LOL. Chill. There was no ulterior motive. I just saw the article and thought this sounded high, even taking into account that it’s a small percentage of the population.

But assuming the estimate is correct or close, regarding my question: I think “people are more accepting” is certainly one hypothesis that could explain it. But I don’t think comparisons to gay people are perfect. There have clearly always been people who are gay and identify/behave as such. Sexuality is relatively straightforward compared to gender identity, and even trans identity is relatively straightforward compared to non-binary. The entire concept is a relatively new and nebulous one. It wasn’t that everyone always knew that there were non-binary people and oppressed them. It seems more like that basically nobody “identified” as non-binary at all, and suddenly a bunch have decided they are. It seems almost undeniable to me that social trends are a large part of that; unlike sexual orientation, I am not convinced that it’s something fixed and innate, but much more fluid and based on cultural views of gender roles. Hell, I thought that was the point?

I don’t particularly care and no, I am not worried about this hurting Dems in 2022. But I will say that I do find it curious how many biological women in my experience are identifying as non-binary lately, changing absolutely nothing about themselves. It’s more like “Oh I’m a tomboy who hates pink, must not really be a woman but don’t feel like a man either.” In those cases it’s not clear to me how much thought really went into adopting the label, and how much was more just following the trends or believing that any deviation from some strange Platonic ideal of how a gender is “supposed” to be meaning you are literally not that gender. I find that bizarre because by such a strict standard, EVERYONE would be “non-binary.”

You’re making some interesting assumptions. Why do you say being nonbinary isn’t straightforward, and why do you say it’s new? I think a lot of people would have said that about homosexuality a few decades ago, because it was seen as socially deviant and novel just like nonbinary identity is today. People have identified outside of being strictly male or female for a long time in a way that you understand to be true for homosexuality despite the fact that people actually haven’t been identifying as “gay” or “homosexual” per se for very long either - just like how men have had romantic and sexual relationships with other men and women with women for a long time before they were societally understood, there have also been people who didn’t feel like a man or a woman for a very long time.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Yes, the idea of gender as a choice goes against the effort to tear down gender roles. If you are a man who wants to act/dress/etc in a way more like to women, go for it. But now it has become fashionable to just claim you’re a woman.

Being uncomfortable in one’s body is because of gender roles; you shouldn’t have to “feel” like a male or a female. Bowing down to gender roles by changing genders, rather than living your life and challenging them, only reinforces said roles.

Do you really think trans people, who face high rates of unemployed, poverty, and violence, are doing it because it’s “fashionable”? I understand being confused and not getting certain things absolutely the community, but callous dismissal like that is just ignorant and wrong.

(And when one wants to be perceived as a certain gender by society, one tends to conform to what that society expects of that gender.)