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 we 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 (@irboyn), Instagram (@irobyn), and on their website, irobyn.com.
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.
Read the full show notes at http://kindredspodcast.com/2018/11/28/episode-27-reimagining-the-binary-gender-identity-and-expression-with-dr-robyn-henderson-espinoza/
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