Coming in but not out – Youth in the Countryside

CW: Alcohol.

I feel lost, feel like I’m in the wrong film. This film is not meant for me.

The lights go on. I see that everyone here is different than me.

I was in the wrong film.

Later I drink champagne with the others, because I don’t dare order anything else.

I don’t like champagne, at least I always say I don’t like it.

It’s actually not that bad, but I can’t like it because that’s what defines me.

But since someone else, who isn’t like them either, liked champagne, it doesn’t taste so bad.

I still prefer to stick to beer.

Note: I wrote this when I was young, and it is in no way meant to glorify alcohol and macho beer drinking.

 

Genderqueer Musicians

On my search for role models I could identify with, I stumbled over these nonbinary artists. This is very special to me – for years I came to terms with the fact that people would forever see me as a guy who sometimes dresses girly. But when I saw these artists perform being neither man nor woman, or both, I finally came out and said “fuck it, I can do this too”. <3 Continue reading “Genderqueer Musicians”

“Dear Ladies, Gentlemen, and …” – Change Your Gender Entry

How people treat each other is one thing – dehumanising bureaucratic institutions are something else entirely. Official correspondence is a very binary affair, even though Germany now officially recognises the third gender. This means that, according to §22 PStG, instead of a male or female gender, one can have a diverse gender entry, or even no gender at all, entered in birth certificates, identity cards, etc.

Continue reading ““Dear Ladies, Gentlemen, and …” – Change Your Gender Entry”

How to Come Out as Non-Binary Towards Friends/Family

It is nice to be recognised for who you are. Unfortunately, you have to expect that non-enbies will misunderstand what you mean by that. Not all enbies come out at all. If pronouns aren’t that important to you, you might not have to explain anything to the world. But if people really want to hear a reason why they should treat you differently, coming out may be necessary/useful.

Continue reading “How to Come Out as Non-Binary Towards Friends/Family”

Language, Pronouns, Names – how Can we Talk About Ourselves?

The first problem when I want to explain to people what it’s like inside me is that the words are missing. “Something between man & woman” is about the first thing I could come up with, but that doesn’t really describe it well. “I’m an Enby” works quite well as a substitute for man/woman, even if it sounds a bit like scene slang. Continue reading “Language, Pronouns, Names – how Can we Talk About Ourselves?”