This article was originally published on July 14, 2020.

For many people around the world, July 14th is a completely ordinary day, just another wonderfully idle summer day. However, for members of the LBGTQ+ community and straight allies, July 14th is International Non-Binary People’s Day, a day to celebrate individuals who identify with gender identities other than solely male or female, regardless of sex.

International Non-Binary People’s Day was first celebrated in 2012, following a post titled “Calling for an International Non-Binary Gender Day” on the WordPress blog Fierce Femme’s Black Market. The author of the post, a person named Katje, called for a day to celebrate non-binary people, similar to Women’s Day and Men’s Day. International Non-Binary People’s Day is July 14, which, quite fittingly, falls exactly between Women’s Day, March 8, and Men’s Day, November 19.

The term non-binary is both an umbrella gender identity and an umbrella term that encompasses many different gender identities, such as agender, bigender, genderfluid, intergender, non-binary, third gender, and many more. However, all of the gender identities that fall under the term non-binary have one thing in common: they all do not identify with the two genders present in the gender binary.

Agender individuals are gender-neutral and identify as genderless. According to Verywellmind.com, bigender individuals are people who have “two distinct gender identities or expressions, either simultaneously, at different times, or in different situations.” Genderfluid individuals circumstantially move between two or more genders, depending on the time or situation. Third gender individuals identify with a gender that is not represented in the gender binary, while intergender individuals have a gender that falls between masculine/male and feminine/female, rather than being one of the two.

There are five main pronouns used to refer to non-binary people: she, her, hers; he, him, his; they, them, theirs; xe, xem, xirs; and xe, hir, hirs. There are different variations of these, which can be observed in the chart below, originally from the website Them.us. However, it is always customary and polite to ask an individual which pronouns they prefer before addressing them, to avoid misgendering someone, regardless of whether they choose to conform to the gender binary or not. (Picture Credit: Them.us)

In recent years, much of the world has become more open to members of the LGBTQ+ community and members of the non-binary community, with more inclusivity and diversity within the government and media and entertainment industries. However, we still have a long way to go, both as a nation, and as a world, as hate crimes, verbal insults, and attacks against the LGBTQ+ and non-binary communities are still prevalent. But by doing small things, such as asking a person what pronouns they prefer before assuming, using the name that a non-binary person prefers you call them by, and by being kind and respectful to all people regardless of their gender identity, we can slowly destroy the toxic gender binary and create a more inclusive environment for all people.

This article is subject to review and editing if, in the future, new and relevant information comes up that renders any of the information in this article false or offensive.