Gender Creative Community

Today I am proposing a pride flag and an icon for gender nonconforming people, and I am recommending the formation of a new socio-political rights movement and identity space for gender nonconforming people, as signified by the letter “C” within the LGBTQIA initialism.

Furthermore, I am recommending the deprecation of “gender nonconforming” for this demographic of gender minorities and the immediate adoption of the label “gender creative” in its stead because it is affirming and empowering, rather than implying willful deviance from an indoctrinated cultural ideal.

The gender creative pride flag is constructed of two exterior lavender fields in opposition, a composite of the pink and blue fields found in the transgender pride flag and an interior white field one-fifth the proportion to the remainder. Lavender represents the blurring of binary gender norms whereas white represents freedom of gender expression.

The gender creative icon, or Genderbang Symbol, is constructed of a ring and an eight-point asterisk of moderate proportion projecting from the left. Altogether, it affords many different interpretations, and thus aims to reflect the diversity of its constituents without undue bias.

Both of these community symbols were designed by me and are therefore being released into the public domain for the intended purposes cited above.

The narratives of transgender people and gender creative people, as well as the institutional oppression they endure, can frequently overlap. Both can be victims of transphobic discrimination and violence, both can experience gender dysphoria, both can adopt gender neutral pronouns and honourifics, both can legally change their name, and both can undergo hormone replacement therapy.

There still exists a vast divide between transgenderism and those who conform to their birth assigned gender roles and expectations. We are witnessing a burgeoning demographic stuck within a linguistic “void”. When an underprivileged and disenfranchised class of people is not being recognized nor accommodated in existing advocacy, then it is imperative that we foster a new identity space in which to rally for visibility and acceptance and in which to articulate our own lived experiences.

The overarching gender expansive identity space encompasses all gender minorities; it is equally inclusive of both transgender people and gender creative people. The umbrella pride flag, designed by Jennifer Pellinen, is symbolic of the common cause that unites these two communities.

We must acknowledge that gender creative people are worthy of positive political and social representation. At present, they are one of the most overlooked and underserved gender minorities, as confirmed by studies such as the National Transgender Discrimination Survey and the GLSEN School Climate Survey.

It is finally time to bridge the gap between cis-vs-trans. It is time for a change. We are the gender creative community.

Originally published by Leslie Krause (July 19, 2015)