Non-Binary Gender Identities in the Workplace

Gender fluid, gender variant, non-binary, agender, pangender—these are just a few examples of the more than 50 gender-identity options, beyond male and female, now available to users of Facebook. These genders do not, however, exist in a Facebook vacuum. They exist in the world and, as such, they exist in the workplace. Gender activist Kate Bornstein famously said: “It’s a difficult place to live, being neither/nor in an either/or world.” The same could be said for the “either/or” workplace. Employers seeking to create a work environment free of discrimination and harassment based on gender identity cannot do so without policies and practices that are inclusive of all the genders.Following Facebook’s gender-option update, an online glossary of these gender options emerged on The Daily Beast, which was probably enlightening for the (likely many) Facebook users who had never contemplated a gender selection other than male or female.

For instance, according to the published glossary, agender refers to “someone who does not identify with any sort of gender identity” or “someone who intentionally has no recognizable gender presentation.” The terms “genderless” and “gender neutral” are listed as synonyms. Non-binary is described as “a way of describing one’s gender as outside the two-gender (i.e., man/woman) system and/or challenging that system.” Gender variant is defined as “an umbrella term that refers to anyone who, for any reason, does not have a cisgender identity.”