Breaking the Binary Non-Binary Gender Identities PSHE Breaking the Binary Non-Binary Gender Identities

At the End of this Lesson You Should Know: What Transgender and Non-Binary mean The difference between gender and sex That sexual orientation and gender identity have nothing to do with each other

Glossary Sexual orientation means who you find emotionally and/or sexually attractive Sexual orientation has nothing to do with gender identity. Binary gender means you identify with one of the two binary genders (boy or girl) Non-binary gender means you do not identify with a binary gender

Glossary continued Gender identity means the gender you feel you belong to. It is different from your sex in that your sex is biologically determined and your gender is psychologically, emotionally and culturally determined. A trans person is generally someone whose sex and gender don’t match. Some trans people may 'transition', which means that they start living their life in a different gender from the one they were given at birth as a result of their biological sex.

…there’s a bit more Men and women whose birth sex and gender identity are matched are cisgender Agender means you do not identify with any gender AFAB means you were assigned female at birth AMAB means you were assigned male at birth

…and finally Being human means being different and these labels don’t work for everybody. When it comes to gender, intersex people are born with physical and biological characteristics of both sexes. Non-binary people do not identify as male or female as they feel it constrains their choice of identity. There are many different non-binary gender identities as everyone experiences gender differently. Gender dysphoria is the distress a person experiences as a result of their assigned gender not matching their gender identity.

Non-Binary Gender Identities People who identify outside the gender binary can have very different feelings about gender. Some may feel that their gender identity fits somewhere between being a man or woman while others may not identify with any gender. Demi-gender people can partially identify with a gender but not fully. Some non-binary people wish to transition so that their physical appearance matches their gender identity. All gender identities are valid and it is important to respect everyone's different experiences of gender.

A Point About Identity An important point is that you own your identity. Imagine somebody called you by a name that wasn’t your own. You correct them but they continue to use their choice of name for you rather than your correct/chosen name. This starts to annoy you so you challenge them and tell them to stop. They then tell you that what you call yourself is incorrect and their name for you is the correct one. How would this make you feel? It’s important to use the right terms for people and that means using the terms they choose.

Pronouns People whose gender identity does not fit the binary genders may ask for non-gendered pronouns or language

Some Pronoun Examples He/She Him/Her His/Hers Himself/Herself Zie Zim Zirs Zieself They Them Theirs Themself Xe Xem Xyr Xemself Ze Hir Hirs Hirself Ey Em Eir Eirself

Plenary Explain to a partner and write down for homework: Go to Gendered Intelligence http://genderedintelligence.co.uk, GIRES http://www.gires.org.uk , or Mermaids http://www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/ to research a non-binary gender identity; Write down the characteristics of the gender identity; Three other things you learned today