Thread by @DanJonesOcean

***Personal thread*** Hi all. You may or may not have noticed something on my profiles, as I’ve changed my pronouns on various platforms. After ~two years spent observing, reflecting, talking, and processing, I have accepted something about myself. I’m a non-binary person.

1/10

My gender experience does not sit comfortably within its assigned boundaries, and I’m not especially interested in hiding that fact anymore. I use “they” pronouns in general, but other pronouns aren’t necessarily a problem for me.

2/10

It feels comfortable and validating if you use “they” when referring to me, but because of my particular variety of non-binary gender, I’ve found that *any* pronouns are fine. As long as your intent is good/neutral, then I'm fine. I won't be offended.

3/10

(Note that the above does not apply to all non-binary people. I’m only talking about myself here.)

4/10

In practice, I don’t need much from anyone. It feels nice when people respect my pronouns and gender expression, which may include some shifts in how I move, talk, and dress. Depending on how I’m feeling, you might not even notice the changes, or you might notice some.

5/10

Most of all, your chill would be very much appreciated - I’m the exact same person that I was before. 🙂

I'm still a nerd. Still a scientist. Still a Dad. Still a mixture of confident, awkward, outgoing, shy, etc.

6/10

NOTE: I fully recognise that I have benefitted from male-presenting privilege for a long time. It will be interesting (scary) to see to what extent this changes, if any, as I shift my gender expression.

7/10

I decided to come out now because this week is #NonBinaryAwarenessWeek. I didn’t personally know that such a period existed until earlier this month!

It seemed like as good a time as any, and I have been feeling ready for awhile, so here we are.

8/10

I'm sharing this on my mostly-science twitter because I've been convinced by the thoughtful positions of others that our identity *is* relevant to the science that we do. It shapes our perspective.

Generally, we *are* allowed to bring our whole selves to work.

9/10

Thanks for reading. And thanks in advance for your chill. That’s pretty much all I need. ☺️

10/10

@threadreaderapp unroll