Some people think that there are only two genders; male and female because of the U.S.’s gender system. Others don’t identify with the gender binary, that is, the two genders the majority of cisgenders (someone who has a gender identity that aligns with what they were assigned at birth) think there is. The estimated population for transgender people in the U.S. is 0.3% or 700,000, though experts estimate the real number is probably greater than that.

We asked a couple of students here at Lincoln their thoughts on transgender people. Justin Guia says, “although I don’t understand it, being part of the LGBT community I fully support them all the way”. We also asked a fellow reporter here at Lincoln, Ron. He says, “I feel that they are being represented well at this school compared to other schools, because I know a good amount of transgender people and people don’t have a problem with them. I don’t have a problem with them.” When asked about specific pronouns, like “they”, Ronald Demetriades said, “They is a plural, so maybe use another pronoun. I think that they should tell people their pronoun instead of getting offended”.

Why is it important for everyone  to understand gender binary, and transgender people? One  problem of not understanding them is the misuse of pronouns. Pronouns are used to take the place of a name respectively. For gender binary and transgender people, pronouns should still be used respectively, and often times are not.

What does it really mean to call a person by the word “they, or them”?  Why is this important? They and them can be used when speaking of a third person, outside of the people having the  conversation. “They” and “them” are just as effective as “he” or “she” are when speaking of someone outside of a conversation. After speaking to the students from the video asking for non binary and trans friendly bathrooms, we got a better understanding of why it’s a more comfortable pronoun to use. For those who do not identify with a gender, prefer, if not addressed by name when spoken of, to not be confined by what society view as the only pronouns “he” and “she”.

Teague Shattuck stated, “A lot of times people use they/them because they identify as nonbinary, which means people who don’t identify as boys or girls.” They and them address non binary people appropriately without placing them in the conforming binary.

One direct example of this was given to us by Todd Miller when he introduced himself he said ,“I’m Todd, but I actually go by Amanda with my teachers and everything.” When speaking to Todd about why gender neutral bathrooms are important to him, he also stated ,“when we talk about this to other people they say ‘Oh well why don’t you just use the bathroom  that you identify your gender with?’ But I am not safe using a men’s restroom personally, neither is Roman and Roman identifies as male even though they don’t always present male, that’s just as valid as anybody’s else’s things.”  Because of society’s preconceived ideas of male and female it makes it difficult for these two young men to use the gendered bathroom they identify with.

Difference Between Sex, and Gender

Sex is assigned at birth based on X and Y chromosomes, XX being female and XY being male. However, gender is defined by what a person feels or associate themselves as being in terms of physical identity and that  may or may not correlate with the sex male or female. Because gender identities come from feelings not physical or external characteristics it is perfectly possible for a person to appear in physical characteristics as one gender but associate themselves with another.In older times, some cultures accepted more than one gender. Before the European discovery of Hawaii, a tradition of multiple genders existed among the indigenous society of the Kanaka Maoli. Mahu “could be biological males or females inhabiting a gender role somewhere between or encompassing both the masculine and feminine.”

Not everyone has the means or wants to alter or transform their bodies and natural appearances to correlate to a single identity of male or female but our society labels first  based on what the eye can see.  
Cisgender people’s identities correlate with their sex assigned at birth and Cisgender people take up the majority of society falling under the binary category. Because of the U.S gender system people find it taboo if someone goes against their sex assigned at birth while still fitting what society see as the opposite sex based on physical characteristics.

The point is, it’s been accepted before in history, so why not now? Media in our society tends to make fun of sensitive topics like gender, race, sexuality, disabilities etc. Some of us who don’t experience these types of things first hand don’t understand what people who are transgender, or maybe face racism, go through in their lives, therefore we don’t take their situations seriously. It is understandable to not fully understand, or have preconceived notions on gender and sexuality, but the more you learn the better you can understand and just respect people’s labels/ or non labels.