Blog / 2022 / Low-key Genderfree Womanish Person

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Low-key genderfree womanish person. That’s how I’m describing myself these days, and it’s inspired by a conversation with someone who, like me, is not interested in religion, but doesn’t like the idea of describing herself in terms of a lack, preferring instead to emphasize freedom. So “godfree” was the term that she chose. And I liked it so well that I decided to apply it to my gender. And it was in discovering that term—discovering “free”—that I finally became free.

There are many words for what it’s like to not fit into the woman-man binary. There’s nonbinary, of course, but also genderqueer, genderfluid, gender nonconforming, agender, pangender, among many others. None of these terms ever captured the feel of me.

But genderfree does.

It’s a lot like the flag whose strips I’ve superimposed on this wolf’s face. For most of my life, queer pride was represented by a six-color rainbow, which you can see on the bottom half of the face, and that rainbow was plenty enough for me to begin with. I was queer and I didn’t feel the need to be any more specific.

Then in 2018, two stripes were added: black and brown. The More Color Pride flag, as it’s known, is eight parallel stripes that are meant to recognize LGBTQIA people of color, and that emphasis on inclusivity immediately appealed to me.

And to others as well, obviously, since the Progress Pride flag—that’s the flag with the triangle shape that I’m using in this image—is even more inclusive. The white, pink, and blue in the triangle are a shoutout to trans pride, and the yellow portion with the lavender circle honors intersex pride. The heart with pansexual pride colors at the center of the intersex circle is an extra flourish of my own, but one that I think it’s one that stays in the spirit of the Intersex Inclusive Pride flag.

Maybe one day there will be a flag or a term that fits me better but for now, these stripes and this low-key genderfree identity and this playful animal embodiment of it, it’s all I need.

This video is made with love and microdonations from my community!