On this episode we work on expanding our understanding of gender by breaking free of the gender binary. Gender is so embedded in our culture that many of us forget that it’s a construct rather than a given. We’re thrilled to have our friend Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza–a Latinx scholar, queer activist, and public theologian–join us for a conversation about gender, theology, and imagination.
We start by defining some key terms: cisgender, transgender, and non-binary. We pulled them from the Trans Student Educational Resources–find these definitions and many others on their site, transstudent.org.
Follow Dr. Robyn on Twitter, Instagram, and on their website.
What We’re Reading and Listening To
Katey has been looking for books to share with her young daughter, and here are a few to check out.
Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. Explores tension of gender expression and family.
Neither by Airlie Anderson. Disrupts the binary.
Sparkle Boy by Lesléa Newman. Celebrates gender expression.
How to Be a Girl is a podcast that Ashley loves and has recommended in the past. The host is the mother of a trans daughter, and she shares about the journey that they embark on as her daughter learns to navigate the world as a trans girl.
Kindreds of the Moment
The National Center for Transgender Equality is the nation’s leading social justice advocacy organization winning life-saving change for transgender people. In addition to their public advocacy work, the Center has some helpful resources on understanding non-binary gender identity and how to support and respect folks who identify as non-binary:
- You don’t have to understand what it means for someone to be non-binary to respect
them. - Use the name a person asks you to use.
- Try not to make any assumptions about people’s gender.
- If you’re not sure what pronouns someone uses, ask.
- Advocate for non-binary friendly policies.
- Understand that, for many non-binary people, figuring out which bathroom to use can be challenging.
- Talk to non-binary people to learn more about who they are.
Visit them at transequality.org.