Agender

Last updated

Agender
Agender pride flag.svg
Classification Gender identity
Symbol Full moon symbol.svg
Other terms
SynonymsGenderless, gender-free, non-gendered, ungendered
Associated terms

Agender (also known as genderless, gender-free, non-gendered, or ungendered) [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] is a gender identity where an individual has no gender at all and does not necessarily follow gender roles. [7] [8] [9] [10]

Contents

This group represents a spectrum of identities that diverge from conventional gender norms. According to scholar Finn Enke, not all agender individuals may self-identify as transgender. [11] While there is no universally accepted set of pronouns for agender people, singular they is commonly used, although many agender people accept the use of any pronoun. [12] [4] The A in LGBTQIA+ stands for agender, alongside asexual and aromantic. [13]

A 2017 analysis of surveys of gender identity found that, of the transgender participants, 14% identified as agender. [14] Gender Census, an international survey of non-binary people, found in 2025 that 25% of participants identified as agender. [15]

History

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded use of the word was in 1996, as "A-gender", in an article in the Independent. [16]

A 1997 paper in International Journal of Transgenderism (later renamed International Journal of Transgender Health ) states that "An individual of any genetic sex may also regard him-herself as [...] an ungendered person, who does not or will not identify with any conventional gender". [17]

The first known use of the term "agender" without the hyphen was on a Usenet forum referring to the gender of the Christian God. [18] The Oxford English Dictionary points to usage of the word as far back as 2005 on the Usenet newsgroup "alt.politics.democrats":

Cultures can have transgender, agender, and hypergender individuals.

Re: Homosexuality & Bible in alt.politics.democrats [16]

A 2013 New York Times Article talked about a non-binary person who used the term agender to describe themself. [18] The agender flag was created in 2014 by Salom X, a Tumblr user. [19] The same user created the demiboy and demigirl flags. The black and white represent the absence of gender, the gray represents people who are semi-genderless, the green is for non-binary genders. [20]

"Agender" and "neutrois" were among the custom gender options added to Facebook in February 2014 and to OkCupid since November 2014. [21] [22] In 2017, Judge Amy Holmes Hehn ruled that Patch, an agender resident of Portland, Oregon, could be legally identified as agender. [23] The first agender pride day was celebrated on May 19, 2019 and is celebrated annually on that day. [20]

Notable agender people

Fictional characters

References

  1. "LGBTQ Needs Assessment" (PDF). Encompass Network. April 2013. pp. 52–53. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  2. "Gender alphabet" (PDF). Safe Homes. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  3. "'The special moment my 4yo agender child decided on their pronoun'". kidspot. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  4. 1 2 Papisova, Vera (20 January 2016). "What It Means to Identify as Agender". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  5. Ford, Tyler (7 August 2015). "My life without gender: 'Strangers are desperate to know what genitalia I have'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  6. "What does it mean to be agender? One person shares their experience". TODAY.com. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  7. Vargo, Marc E. (2011). "A Review of "Please select your gender: From the invention of hysteria to the democratizing of transgenderism"". Journal of GLBT Family Studies. 7 (5): 493–494. doi:10.1080/1550428x.2011.623982. S2CID   142815065.
  8. Cronn-Mills, Kirstin (2014). Transgender Lives: Complex Stories, Complex Voices. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN   978-1-4677-4796-7. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016 via Google Books.
  9. Schorn, Johanna. "Taking the 'Sex' out of Transsexual: Representations of Trans Identities in Popular Media" (PDF). Inter-Disciplinary.Net. Cologne, Germany: University of Cologne. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014. The term transgender is an umbrella term 'and generally refers to any and all kinds of variation from gender norms and expectations' (Stryker 19). Most often, the term transgender is used for someone who feels that the sex assigned to them at birth does not reflect their own gender identity. They may identify as the gender "opposite" to their assigned gender, or they may feel that their gender identity is fluid, or they may reject all gender categorizations and identify as agender or genderqueer.
  10. "How I came to terms with being agender". SBS Voices. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  11. Anne Enke, ed. (2012). "Note on terms and concepts". Transfeminist Perspectives In and Beyond Transgender and Gender Studies. Temple University Press. pp. 16–20 [18–19]. ISBN   978-1-4399-0748-1.
  12. Sojwal, Senti (16 September 2015). "What Does 'Agender' Mean? 6 Things to Know About People With Non-Binary Identities". Bustle . Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  13. "A is for Asexual, Agender, Aromantic". GLAAD. 11 February 2015. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  14. Morrison, Tessalyn; Dinno, Alexis; Salmon, Taurica (1 December 2021). "The Erasure of Intersex, Transgender, Nonbinary, and Agender Experiences Through Misuse of Sex and Gender in Health Research". American Journal of Epidemiology. 190 (12): 2712–2717. doi:10.1093/aje/kwab221. ISSN   0002-9262. PMID   34409983.
  15. "Gender Census 2025: Worldwide Report – Gender Census" . Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  16. 1 2 "agender, adj.", Oxford English Dictionary (3 ed.), Oxford University Press, 2 March 2023, doi:10.1093/oed/1111057139 , retrieved 21 March 2025
  17. Eyler, A.E.; Wright, K. (1997). "Gender Identification and Sexual Orientation Among Genetic Females with Gender-Blended Self-Perception in Childhood and Adolescence". International Journal of Transgenderism.
  18. 1 2 Nast, Condé (7 August 2018). "What Does It Mean to Be Agender?". Them. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  19. "Resources for the agender community". akt. 27 July 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  20. 1 2 EDITOR (19 May 2025). "What is Agender Pride Day?" . Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  21. Sparkes, Matthew (14 February 2014). "Facebook sex changes: which one of 50 genders are you?". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  22. "OkCupid expands gender and sexuality options". PBS NewsHour. 17 November 2014. Archived from the original on 19 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  23. "Judge grants Oregon resident the right to be genderless". NBC News. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  24. Wakefield, Lily (12 May 2021). "First non-binary mayor 'of any city, anywhere' hailed an 'example to all' after winning election aged 22". PinkNews. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
  25. "LGBT: Wales' first non-binary mayor 'used to abuse'". BBC News. 12 May 2021. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  26. "Bogi Takács". Instagram . Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  27. Sutter, Robbie (16 June 2020). "#PrideMonth ASUKA/VENY, the Genderless Artist". Last Word on Pro Wrestling. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  28. Stephanie (27 December 2017). "Transgender Japanese wrestler shares her story". Diva Dirt. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  29. DeAnne Smith - Comedy Up Late 2017 (S5, E2), 14 May 2017, retrieved 7 April 2023
  30. Keating, Shannon (27 March 2015). "The Evolution Of Angel Haze". BuzzFeed . Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  31. Lenti, Marissa [@MarissaLenti] (5 April 2021). "(I'd come to find out that my being ace is intrinsically linked with my agenderism and my dislike of being perceived, which is a more individual experience and which definitely doesn't apply to most ace people, but I never would've figured it out without figuring out being ace.)" (Tweet). Retrieved 16 October 2023 via Twitter.
  32. Tyler Ford (7 August 2015). "My life without gender: 'Strangers are desperate to know what genitalia I have'". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  33. Miller, sj. "About Dr. sj Miller". sjmiller.info. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
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  35. "SC women, nonbinary guitarists participate in She Shreds Media riff a day challenge | Charleston Scene | postandcourier.com". 1 December 2021. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  36. Negro, Lírio (21 December 2019). "Lute como uma PCD (pessoa com deficiência) não-binária, agênero..." Facebook (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  37. "About". Ace Dad Advice. Retrieved 9 July 2024. They are queer, ace, and agender.
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