Life Outside The Binary Can Be A Mx-ed Bag

I’m non-binary. My pronouns are they/them. It is surprisingly difficult to get people to use these pronouns and other forms of address correctly, even though I wear a pin stating them every single day. Even my boss, whom I’ve worked for and been out to for years, still gets it wrong regularly.

I’m in class with a lecturer who is not exactly known for being the most conscious about queer issues. I raise my hand to answer a question.

Lecturer: “Yes, Mx. [My Name]?”

Me: “Yes, I— Uh, what? Huh?!”

Lecturer: *Flustered* “Wasn’t that right?”

Me: “No! It was completely correct! That’s what took me by surprise! Thank you!”

Classmate: *Laughing good-naturedly* “OMG, someone respects my pronouns!”

Me: “Gosh, but you’d be surprised! Anyway…”

The rest of the class passed without incident.

It probably doesn’t look like much to many of the gentle readers of this website, but I cannot stress enough how much this meant to me. I’ve been more or less resigned to having to correct everyone I interact with, even those who claim to be (and are) much more “on it” with queer things. This lecturer was BY FAR the last person I expected to address me correctly and casually!