I have been writing this blog for 10 months in hope to get the word out what it is like to be non-binary in a binary world. I have searched for the proper resources to help people understand where I’m coming from. I have shared parts of my story of all the different things I have gone through since coming out.
I’m so happy that I found the most wonderful book when I went to my pain management doctor last week. If is kinda strange how I came across this amazing book. My wife and I decided to do some shopping after my appointment. I wanted to go to Dick’s to find some short sleeve compression shirts for me. I have been searching for the right compression shirts to help me with the issues I have in regards to dysphoria. I was lucky enough to find 2 long sleeve ones, but still no short sleeve one.
While we were on our way into Dick’s my wife asked if we could go to Barnes & Nobel. Right after we finished at Dick‘s we went there. When we walked in they had a table with a bunch of LQBTQ books and different items. I took some time to look at the table, while my wife went to search for the items she was trying to find. This little book jumped out at me. The title is “A QUICK & EASY GUIDE TO THEY/THEM PRONOUNS” by Archie Bongiovanni & Tristan Jimerson. I started to read a little a bit of it while I was in the store.
When I opened it and noticed it was a comic book I was even more excited, because the reader would be able to see how the dialogue went between the two authors of the book. Their dialogue is about the right way to treat people that are non-binary and ways that people can go about making us feel more comfortable as well as how to advocate for us.
The thing that made me purchase this book is the fact that it was one of the few sources I have found that shows their are people out there that use their name for the gender pronoun. It also wasn’t that expensive and I thought what a great book that I can share with family and friends to help them with their journey of learning how to use gender neutral pronouns. So what I have decided to do with this book is give it to people and share, as well as leave it in public spaces to get the word out.
If you are reading this blog and are able to buy this book and share with people that are struggling with gender neutral pronouns I highly suggest it. This book is only 60 pages long and only took me 10 to 15 minutes long to read. I’m a slow reader FYI.
Looking forward to reading this book, Mer! On a personal level, I've enjoyed poking a little fun at my spouse who transitioned from one gender to another and who now struggles a bit with our youngest identifying as nonbinary. They are okay with family using their previous pronouns, which relieves my spouse; I just say, "Now you get a sense of what it was like for the rest of us!"
I also will recommend this resource to the trans allies support group I'm part of in Duluth. Some of them have kids identifying as nonbinary, and I know they have teachers, family, and friends who struggle with pronoun usage. Thanks so much!