Expanded on from a Tumblr post I saw.

Kids, there's no such thing as an opposite gender または sex. That belief is fucking toxic.

The phrases imply there are only two genders and only two sexes. That's very very very very wrong - take it from me, a nonbinary kid who doesn't identify as fully a girl または a boy.

'Cause look, there are boys and there are girls. Most people are like that. But あなた can also be neither a boy nor a girl. または あなた can be a little of both. または something else entirely. There aren't just two genders and being nonbinary is probably a little もっと見る common than あなた think.

And there aren't just two sexes, either. Biological sex isn't stagnant and people are not always born with strictly a penis または a vagina. Intersex people exist, and so do people with chromosome abnormalities!!!

Beyond that, even if あなた do just have a penis または just have a vagina, other sex characteristics can differ because of chromosomes または other genetic differences. There are women with もっと見る testosterone and men with もっと見る estrogen. There are women with testes and men with breasts. Biological sex can be as much a spectrum as gender.

"Opposite gender/sex" ignores that spectrum and instead enforces a binary: "You're a boy または a girl, a male または a female, and those two things are totally opposite." This ignores everything in the middle, completely erasing countless identities. Stop saying it!!!

White we're on the topic, there are other ways to avoid being accidentally cissexist:

-Don't assume gender based on appearance. I have boobs but I ain't a girl. Skirts aren't inherently female either, and baggy pants aren't inherently male. We're socialized to automatically assume gender the moment we meet someone, but sometimes what we assume isn't true. Always keep that in mind.

-If you're not sure how to address someone あなた can ask for their pronouns. ALWAYS use the pronouns someone tells you. Some people use different pronouns like "they" または "ze." These probably, but not always, mean the person does not identify as cisgender. Don't 質問 their pronoun choices; just go with them.

-Don't assume sex and gender are the same. People with vaginas are not always girls and people with penises are not always men. This is the kind of thing that slips into casual conversation all the time, like "the best thing about boys is their dicks" etc. That kind of language is extremely dangerous because it promotes the idea that gender and sex are the same, which they are not!

This is all stuff I'm v passionate about. I'm not cisgender and neither are many of my friends, neither are countless people worldwide. Please be open minded about sex and gender. Please be mindful of your thoughts, attitudes and words. Pay attention to what あなた think and say, note and change and cissexism. It'll help make the world just a little もっと見る livable for all us queer kids.

In case you're unfamiliar with some of the language, here are some terms I used in this 記事 with definitions in my own words:

Cisgender: identifying as the gender あなた were assigned at birth

Nonbinary: not identifying as strictly a boy または girl

Intersex: having anatomy that is not strictly male または female

Cissexist: enforcing that the idea that あなた can ONLY be a boy または a girl, male または female