It’s a non -binary struggle

Refilwe Sputla Mogorosi

Gender identity is one’s own internal experience and perception of self and it is completely different from sex while gender binary is the concept that there are only two genders being male and female only. In most of our African societies and cultures, the assumptions are that there are only two genders (female and male) and these assumptions birth a cis-heteronormative culture or belief that assigned sex determines one’s gender. A non-binary person means someone who does not exclusively identify as a man or a woman and often bracketed under the umbrella term Transgender, which includes many other identities. A non-binary person might feel like they are a mix of all genders or no gender at all. Non – binary persons use pronouns they/them to take place of their name. Pronouns do not classify in terms of gender but breed the feeling of comfort and inclusiveness in diverse persons, when they are used. The pronouns they /them will simply refer to one person as opposed to a group of people.

There are so many issues and challenges that arise when we speak of gender in our country context and gender identity for a self-perception. There are issues of non- binary people’s perception of legal gender status and reform that have to be unpacked. Since our society and culture is mostly underpinned by a binary gender system it has been difficult for non -binary folks to be visible and live as their authentic self. The non-binary perception challenges the societal context and makes new interventions on the landscape of the known gender spectrum.

There are multiple aspects to look at issues of legal gender status and reforms, the impact legal gender has in their lives, the importance of official gender recognition and preferred options for policy and law change. Not having legal gender on official documents recorded by systems as something other than female or male goes beyond stigma and discrimination, body autonomy, moral policing, religious expectations and societal views; this also makes non-binary folks feel out of place and oppressed. The fear and rejection that they continuously have to go through just to get through their daily lives, avoiding interacting with public service be it health, work environment and many other opportunities because of fear of being harassed, ridiculed, outed and most of all being mis gendered. Mind you these are also self-protection measure that non -binary person turn to because of the CIS gendered spaces and system that are set in place.

The development and emergence of non-binary identities and gender diversity as a whole has recently begun to challenge societal structures of gender and systems that are not inclusive. Botswana constitution currently does not speak to anything on gender identity particularly to trans gender or diverse persons for purposes of inclusion and recognising the country context and the experiences of its people even after the amended section 3 of the constitution court ruling of 2019 by the High court.

There are many ways in which people are not always comfortable with what they wear or how they express themselves, and unlike some trans person who want to fit into the cis-gender spectrum it is somewhat different for other non -binary person who prefer to use their preferred names and pronouns. Our society needs to think beyond just two genders and acknowledge the existence of trans and gender diverse communities for us to have a more inclusive and progressive spaces they allow everyone to express themselves authentically because excluding some persons from our country demographics may not help achieve objectives, goals that the country has set for itself, not forgetting the socio -economic growth of our country.

Without inclusive laws and policies that speak to gender identity and unpacking the CIS gendered systems that we have in place this means we are erasing the existence and narratives of trans and gender diverse persons. As we are slowly recognizing the increasing number of non-binary identifications and experiences of non-binary persons, it is crucial that professionally, societally, politically alike begin to understand and acknowledge the existence of trans and gender diverse identities and communities and work towards achieving inclusive policies and laws that protect the human rights of all communities.