“I guess, simply, I have never been he or she; this is not a choice, it is who I am,” my friend Joseph explains. “I am not a man or a woman, and the ‘they’ pronoun is the simplest way to differentiate that. When someone uses ‘they’ it demonstrates a respect and recognition of an integral aspect of my being. I have struggled throughout my life with serious mental health conditions/body dysmorphia, and understanding myself more by coming to terms with my identity has certainly eased many of these issues. I’m not oblivious, and am very much aware that not everyone has heard of non-binary, let alone met a non-binary person. Each time I get misgendered with a male pronoun isn’t easy. However, I use the opportunity to speak in a productive way about what that means. I’m not saying that I’m an educator in any way, or that most of the time I don’t want to just let it slide [rather] than have a discussion questioning who I am, but it’s important to open up these conversations in a non-aggressive way.”