Tell me about/explain to me the concept of genderqueer

Wot’s wrong with fag hags? I love fag hags. (Of course, most of mine are lesbian, so ymmv…)

Criminy, you guys make me like a failure at being gay, the one thing I thought I did well.

First up: I’m suddenly Mr. Expert on all Queer Subjects? Cool! Maybe I can get employment in some college’s Queer Studies department and make money just being myself :smiley:

As for genderqueer, the Wikipedia article does a good description of it. Broadly it falls under the umbrella term “transgender”, though generally I have never heard it applied it to full-on transsexuality, nor should we confuse it with a person’s sex or being intersex. The two issues, while overlapping, should be considered separately.

Some cultures have taken the view that gender, far from being a binary situation (on-off, male-female), is a sliding scale upon which we can fall or even separate ourselves from. One can use terms like “two-spirit”, meaning that the person has characteristics from both male and female genders, or “third gendered” which can mean they identify with neither gender adequately and instead fit in their own category. It can also be used to identify men who are very feminine in characteristic while still identifying their proper gender as male or women who have very masculine characteristics while still identifying their proper gender as women.

Just as with sexual orientation or the transsexual aspect of gender identity, these characteristics can be considered immutable by any act of will and ultimately hard to suppress, often leading genderqueer people to end up as ostracized as those considered queer in other ways. This should especially be considered true at younger ages.

I would also take issue with Wikipedia’s linking of the terms “genderqueer” and “genderfuck”. Most genderqueer people, while perhaps being out and active in attempting to change society’s acceptance of them, do not “take on” such attributes to make political statements. I would define those who do as falling into the “genderfuck” category instead.

Well, I’m not sure quite what you mean, but since you’re monogamous, I’m unfortunately not in a position to evaluate your skill at being gay. :frowning:

I have had two huge crushes in my life and they were both on genderqueer people.

The first one is a girl I have known since grade school. She can pass for either male or female and often wears ambiguous clothing. Sometimes she will be in a male ‘mood’ and other times in a female ‘mood’ and alter her clothing accordingly, but mostly she just wears gender neutral stuff. She is bisexual and has dated both males and females. She is happy with her female body and feels no need to change it.

The second is a guy I have known for the past 3 or 4 years. He can pass for either male or female and wears neutral clothing. Online and among certain friends he uses female names although he asks other people to call him by gender neutral names. He is bisexual, although when he dates females, he becomes more masculine and when he dates guys, he becomes more feminine. Before I started dating him, I used to often think of him as ‘she’ but he became pretty masculine when we were dating. However, when he interacted with his male friends, he would become more girly. He seems unsure of his own body which naturally produces a good deal of estrogren. He takes some pills, but says at this point, he doesn’t want to become a woman.

When you see an interact with a genderqueer person, it becomes much easier to understand.

Can I have his phone number?