14 July 2023

International Non-Binary People's Day is observed each year on 14 July to raise awareness around the issues faced by non-binary people around the world. The day was first celebrated in 2012.

CNWL's Pride@CNWL LGBT+ Staff Network has worked hard for a number of years to increase awareness, inform policies and practices and be an active support network for staff members. The Trust and network work closely with Stonewall to achieve this.

Madi Fortune, PRIDE@CNWL's Non Binary Lead and social worker for the Trust, said

"This International Non-Binary Peoples’ Day, I want to echo the words of the incredible non-binary/trans writer Travis Alabanza – I am not non-binary because of me, I am non-binary because of you. I am non-binary because someone set up systems that do not allow for me to exist as myself. Someone decided I had to be this or that, man or woman. Someone decided that my genitals should dictate my status, life options, wishes, presentation, and rights. Someone decided to slap a letter on my birth certificate that dictates what jobs I might be expected to hold, how much I might be paid for those jobs, and what kind of role I should be expected to play in my family and in society.

"To reject that there are ways to exist outside of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ is to reject all of the cultures throughout history and today that conceive of gender very differently to how we do now in the current Western world. It is to reject the Fa’a’fafine people of Samoa, the Muxe people of Mexico, the Bakla people of the Phillipines, the Hijra community of India and Pakistan, the Sworn Virgins of the Balkans, and to reject the cultures who did not organise society by gender until they were colonised by Western powers. 

"I have Yoruba heritage, and prior to colonisation the people of Yorubaland did not conceive of gender in any way similar to how we see it now in the West (I am currently reading The Invention of Women by Oyeronke Oyewumi, a fascinating exploration into this topic). To reject that some of us fall outside of the binary is to arrogantly state that the current Western system of gender classification is the only correct system. It is to tell me that you know more about me than I know about myself.

"To be honest, my gender is one of the least interesting things about me. I could talk about how much I love my job at the Waterview Service here in CNWL, or how much I love my friends, or how annoyed I am at how far I’ve fallen behind with Love Island. But it’s International Non-Binary People’s Day, so I thought I’d better write something. Perhaps you can take my word that since I realised and accepted that I am non-binary, I’ve felt a lightness and liberation that I wish everyone can feel, whether you call yourself ‘man’, ‘woman’, or, like me: ‘nah, I’m good thanks’.

CNWL staff wear progress rainbow badges to help staff and volunteers show their support for their LGBT+ patients, carers, visitors and colleagues. By wearing this Badge, staff and volunteers are sending a message of being a safe listening ear and someone they can turn to for support.