Here we are, halfway through pride month already...
...and only just now do I have the time and spoons to return to blogging. Yikes.
One of my pride month ventures has been joining a Facebook community for the parents of nonbinary kids. The community is supposed to be based on support and acceptance, but apparently no one finds it against that mission to constantly complain about their kids being nonbinary, and issue endless hopes that it’s “just a phase.”
For the record (because I’m betting a lot of you nonbinary minors out there must actually be hearing this nonsense from your parents) this is not only not supportive or accepting, it’s straight-up enbyphobic/transphobic.
Yeah, some folks transition in and out of trans and/or nonbinary identities, and that is perfectly okay and legitimate, but treating that as a “hope” is not acceptable. It poses cisgender and binary as superior, as you don’t usually hope for the worst in life. That is why it’s an unacceptable way to treat this in your kids, or in anyone (especially those you claim to love and support).
Nonbinary identities are not inherently phases, are not always just “stepping stones” to being binary trans, or just “experimentation” that folks go through before settling into their birth genders. It’s not “just for kids” (yeah, my 14-year-old is nonbinary, but I am out here pushing 40, folks) and it’s not “brand new” (the language to describe it just hasn’t always existed in all cultures).
Being nonbinary is real, legitimate, and for some it is very permanent. My apparent cisgenderism, however? Eh, that was just a phase.