Non-binary gender

Genderqueer is a gender identity. A genderqueer person is someone who identifies as a gender other than "man" or "woman," someone who identifies as both, or some combination thereof. In relation to the gender binary, or the view of gender as one of only two options, genderqueer people generally identify as more "both/and" or "neither/nor," rather than "either/or." Some genderqueer people see their identity as one of many different genders outside of man and woman, some see it as a term encompassing all gender identities outside of the gender binary, and some see it as as a "third gender" in addition to the traditional two. The commonality is that all genderqueer people reject the notion that there are only two genders in the world. The term genderqueer is also occasionally used more broadly as an adjective to refer to people who are in some way gender-transgressive, and could have any gender identity (see below).

Some genderqueer people identity as transgender (in the sense of the word as an umbrella term for a broad range of people who identify as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth based on their perceived sex), and some do not. Genderqueer people may transition socially and/or physically, with surgery, hormones, electrolysis, and other practices, or they may remain in their birth bodies or continue to dress and go by the pronouns of their assigned gender. There is no right way to be genderqueer.

The term genderqueer originated as an identity for mainly white, female-assigned, middle and upper class Americans, but there are also many self-identified genderqueer people who are from different racial, ethnic, class, and national backgrounds. However, people who identify as genderqueer are still disproportionately from that group.

How genderqueer people view gender as a whole and its relationship to themselves varies. Some genderqueer people view gender as a continuum between man and woman, with the two traditional genders at the two poles and their own genderqueer place as somewhere within the continuum. Others believe there are as many genders as there are people. Still others believe that binary gender is a social construct, and choose not to adhere to that construct. Some genderqueers do fit into the stereotypical gender roles expected of their sex, but still identify outside of that and reject a two-pole gendered system. Some genderqueers experience their gender as fluid, varying from day to day or year to year.

Some people see "genderqueer" as a more consciously politicized version of the term androgyne. Androgynes are also people who identify as both man and woman, or as neither.

The term genderqueer is sometimes used in a broader context as an adjective to refer to any person who challenges gender roles and binary notions of gender. This is similar to the way homosexual, bisexual, and other people may identify as queer as a broader, umbrella term. However, because genderqueer also refers to a more specific gender identity, the terms gender variant, gender transgressive, or gender non-conforming are more appropriate to refer to the wide range of people who do not fit into rigid binary gender boxes.

The term pansexual exists specifically in reference to the genderqueer understanding of gender, as it reflects a non-binary understanding of gender and its interplay with sexuality.

Some genderqueers identify sufficiently with one binary gender to use conventional pronouns, others prefer that gender-neutral pronouns should be used to refer to them, such as "ze" and "per", "sie" and "hir", "zhe" and "hir", or singular "they" instead of her/his, some alternate between different pronouns such as the Spivak pronouns, and some prefer the use only of their name and no pronouns at all. Many people of various political stripes view such attempts as political correctness.