Non-Binary Lives: An Anthology of Intersecting Identities

This book is a collection of writings by nonbinary people, about their lives as nonbinary and how their identities intersect. It is a very moving book, definitely worth a read. I am nonbinary, which made it a particularly emotional read for me, but I think everyone, cis or trans, binary or nonbinary, should read this book.

The pieces of writing are all very personal, it really feels like you're getting to understand the writers and their identities and lives. Some of the pieces occasionally take on a more informative tone, which, given that this book is talking about topics that not everyone knows much about, is helpful. I know there was some information about queer history and feminism that I didn't know much about, despite being both show more queer and a feminist myself. Each piece of writing shows a different person's journey to their identity. There are so many different ways to be nonbinary, and so many ways to figure out that you are nonbinary, and I think this book does a really good job of showing that.

I particularly liked that the writers are a very diverse group. There are stories that talk about religion, disability, being a person of colour, and how those things affect the person's identity and story. One of them, focusing on disability, really moved me, because it rang very true to my own experience. This is a good book to read both to learn about other people but also to see yourself in the writing as well. Older nonbinary people have voices in this book, which is incredibly important because it often gets seen as a phase, just teenagers 'trying to be special'.

I found the chapter about a nonbinary child, written by a nonbinary parent, particularly moving.

There is a nuanced discussion about definitions and language at the start of the book, which I really appreciated, because different people use different terms in different ways. Even the word nonbinary can mean different things to different people!

There are also cartoons at the start of each chapter, which I loved!

Ultimately, this is a wonderful book, and I really do think everyone should read it. Because the writings are split up into chapters, roughly grouped into themes, it would be easy to dip in and out if you didn't want to read it in one sitting (although it's engaging enough to read it all through at once!). show less

glad this exists but feel like its too white millennial core and focus is too broad to provide insight into any of the intersections it covered lol. also discourse was so identity politics-y i wonder what is beyond that