21 non-binary artists who are helping redefine the idea of gender
Bex Taylor-Klaus, Indya Moore and Nico Tortorella| Photos: Wiki/Fx/Instagram
As more celebrities are coming out as non-binary — last but not least, Jonathan Van Ness — they are shedding a light on this gender identity.
Despite what a widespread misconception states, identities beyond the gender binary aren’t new. There is evidence of people identifying as something other than male or female as far back as 400BC.
Someone who is non-binary or genderqueer thinks of gender as a spectrum rather than a binary opposition. And this, obviously, happens regardless of sex assigned at birth.
There are also frequent cases of parents deciding to raise their kids as non-binary. This genderfluid parental approach allows children to pick the gender they feel more comfortable identifying with when they’re old enough.
What does non-binary look like?
An underrepresented part of the broader LGBTI community, non-binary folks are constantly challenging gender stereotypes associating this identity with androgyny.
Being non-binary, in fact, doesn’t necessarily imply enbies need to be androgynous or rather comply with the traditional idea of what androgynous should look like.
This Pride month, we’ve put together a list of non-binary and gender-neutral established and up-and-coming artists who are outspoken about their non-cis identity.
1 Liv Hewson
Zombie comedy Santa Clarita Diet’s Liv Hewson has spoken about their gender identity in an interview with GSN.
‘People have a sort of preconception as to what being androgynous means and what non-binary people have to look like,’ the Australian actor said.
‘There just isn’t one way to be non-binary. There isn’t one way to play around with gender and there’s no wrong way to look and be non-binary,’ they also added.
2 Bex Taylor-Klaus
Scream actor Bex Taylor-Klaus, who had previously come out as gay, come out as non-binary in July 2018.
‘I came out as trans non-binary in a room full of people today. Guess it’s time for me to do that on here, too… Hi. I’m Bex, and the rumors are true. I’m v enby.’
They also shared a topless shot of themselves on their Instagram in November 2018.
‘What if I wake up some days and see a boy with droopy pecs?’ they wrote in the caption.
‘Why do I have to hide my areola from one day to the next? What about my genetic coding makes my areola less “appropriate” to be viewed than my brothers when examined in the same context? Well … let’s see, I guess.’
3 Planningtorock
English electro musician Planningtorock identifies as non-binary and their songs often tackle and deconstruct the idea of gender.
‘With my body all femme, and my face all masc… Baby I want you to know, that I feel transome,’ Planningtorock sings in Transome, a celebration of the non-binary released in summer 2018.
The artist also revealed on Instagram they had begun to take testosterone.
‘I started what I call a non-linear transitioning, as a non-binary, genderqueer person, and yeah, I started to take testosterone. It’s really quite a personal trip, step by step. It’s very… it feels great and it’s also very complex at the same time.’
4 Ianne Fields Stewart
According to their website, Stewart is a ‘black, queer, and transfeminine New York-based storyteller working at the intersection of theatre and activism’.
They star as transfemme Nina in emotional web series The Feels. Their character is part of a polyam triad with Shantira Jackson and Grey’s Anatomy’s Sara Ramirez.
5 Ezra Miller
Fantastic Beasts actor Ezra Miller came out as non-binary in November 2018, but he hasn’t expressed a clear preference for a particular pronoun.
Miller, who previously came out as queer, sat down with The Hollywood Reporter for an interview at the end of last year.
‘I don’t identify. Like, fuck that,’ Miller said.
‘Queer just means no, I don’t do that. I don’t identify as a man, I don’t identify as a woman. I barely identify as a human.’
6 Dani Shay
Dani Shay is a musician and was a contender on the second season of The Glee Project. Gender identity is often a predominant topic in their songs.
‘And I hope we can grow to see that everybody is unique/ And I know they told us when we were kids / But we forget it cause/ They also said don’t be a pussy to the boy who cried/ And they also said to the girl who fought / That’s not very lady-like / Well we gotta know who decides it,’ Shay sings in Girl Or Boy.
They dated fellow contender Ali Stroker, who recently made history as the first person in a wheelchair to win a Tony Award.
7 Asia Kate Dillon
Asia Kate Dillon made history as the first non-binary main character on American television with their role of Taylor Mason in Billions.
Dillon then explained that auditioning for the role of Mason helped them realize their gender identity.
The actor, who identifies as pansexual, is also known for their work on Orange Is The New Black.
8 Courtney Act
Courtney Act is one of RPDR’s queens who identify as non-binary, alongside Aja and Jinx Monsoon.
‘People who are nonbinary, gender nonconforming, gender-queer, gender-fluid — by definition, they’ve already stepped away from society’s expectations,’ Courtney told GSN.
‘The whole point of self-identification is, you’re the one who decided. So it’s counter-intuitive to the process. But yeah, I’m sure there are pressures. It’s interesting because I remember many years ago when I discovered the term gender-fluid. I felt liberated from the expectation of gender. It literally set me free from 30-something years of one of my biggest and most consistent battles. The expectation to “be a man.”’
9 Tom Phelan
Trans actor Tom Phelan plays transgender teen Cole on Freeform show The Fosters.
The young actor also came out as non-binary in 2014 on their Twitter account and revealed their preferred pronouns are they/them.
10 Nico Tortorella
Younger actor Nico Tortorella came out as genderfluid and non-binary in May 2018.
‘I just pretty recently have come to terms with the fact that maybe I am not fully cisgender,’ they explain in a video by them., as well as on Instagram.
‘This isn’t something I’ve actually talked about on a public level quite yet.’
A month prior, they married Bethany Meyers in a queer, polyamorous relationship.
11 Sam Smith
Together with Miley Cyrus, Sam Smith is perhaps the most famous singer who has revealed to identify as genderfluid.
The gay Oscar-winning English artist disclosed they identify on the trans spectrum in an Instagram interview with Jameela Jamil.
When asked about what non-binary means, Smith said ‘you do not identify in a gender’.
‘You are a mixture of all these different things. You are your own special creation,’ they said in March 2019.
‘That is how I take it. I am not male or female. I think I float somewhere in between — somewhat on the spectrum.’
12 Jack Monroe
English non-binary food writer and journalist is famous for their cooking book Cooking on a Bootstrap, focused on on-a-budget recipes.
Monroe recently got engaged to long-time partner Louisa Compton.
13 Rain Dove
Non-binary model Rain Dove rose to prominence for posing alternately as male and female in photoshoots, productions and runway shows.
They have been in a relationship with actor Rose McGowan since 2018.
‘I’ve never really cared about pronouns for my own descriptors,’ they revealed in an Instagram post in January 2019.
‘The idea that in order to refer to me in a sentence, people have to affiliate me with a division of society and it’s historical relevance is exhausting. I am I. I’ve never been and I never will be. I simply am.’
14 Indya Moore
Pose actor Indya Moore identifies as non-binary and revealed their pronouns are they/them in a tweet in May 2019.
They opened up on their identity in an interview with Pose co-star Mj Rodriguez for L’Officiel.
‘I’m non-binary but I don’t really talk about it that much. I don’t feel like people really are there yet for understanding it, which I don’t mind, but I also acknowledge the way people see me as a woman. And because I’m seen as a woman, a cis woman or binary presenting, people are going to hold me up to those same standards that women are held up to,’ Moore said.
‘Which you’re saying you shouldn’t be, right?’ said Rodriguez.
‘Which I’m saying women should not be,’ was Moore’s reply.
15 King Princess
Genderqueer singer King Princess identifies as genderqueer and gay.
‘I’ve always been kind of a genderqueer person,’ she said in an interview with them. in June 2018.
‘It’s something I kind of came into later ’cause I didn’t really think about it as an identity as much as the way it had to do with the people I loved and the way I dressed…I like that I can ride that line on the periphery of femininity. I don’t always have to be an active participant.’
She furthermore added: ‘I think that’s really freeing.’
16 Jill Soloway
Transparent showrunner Jill Soloway identifies as non-binary.
‘There will always be incredibly masculine people and completely feminine people, but that has nothing to do with people’s bodies, whether they have a penis or vagina,’ the director and writer told The Guardian in 2017.
‘And besides those two poles, there’s also a place in the middle, the non-binariness, the people who don’t register as one or the other. I’m happy to speak on behalf of women and on behalf of feminism. But I notice when people see me as non-binary, I get treated more as a human being.’
17 Amandla Stenberg
Actor Amandla Stenberg, who rose to fame for their role as Rue in The Hunger Games, identifies as non-binary.
They use both she/her and they/them pronouns. After having identified as bisexual/pansexual, Stenberg came out as gay in June 2018.
18 Rebecca Sugar
Creator of critically acclaimed queer cartoon Steven Universe, Rebecca Sugar identifies as both non-binary and bisexual.
As of 2019, Sugar uses both she/her and they/them pronouns.
19 Grimes
Canadian electro musician Grimes identifies as gender-neutral.
‘I vibe in a gender-neutral space so I’m kinda impartial to pronouns for myself. Don’t have a preferred so much but I wish I didn’t have to be categorized as female constantly. Everything I ever hear about Grimes is super gendered and it’s always really made me uncomfortable,’ the artist said.
20 Lachlan Watson
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina actor Lachlan Watson is one of the youngest non-binary actors in Hollywood.
Known for their role of Susie/Theo on the Netflix reboot of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Watson is helping educate people on the difference between gender identity and sexuality.
‘People think as gender as a finite and objective thing that it starts here and it ends here. It’s not that. For me, it just keeps going. It’s a continuous line. It’s just like walking straight in the woods and not knowing where I’m going,’ they said in a video released by Netflix in November 2018.
21 Eliot Sumner
The youngest daughter of former the Police’s Sting and Trudie Styler, Eliot Sumner is a musician, fronting the band I Blame Coco.
In December 2015, when asked if they identified with a particular gender, Sumner replied that they didn’t believe in gender labels, and did not prefer any particular pronouns.
Originally published at https://www.gaystarnews.com on June 13, 2019.