When I first came to Manchester four years ago, it felt (pardon the cliché) different to any other place I had lived. There were gender neutral toilets in my building, and a map to show where more were located across campus. I walked down Oxford Road and I did not stand out as the most gender non-conforming person on the street. One of my lecturers introduced herself with her pronouns, and for a whole year my supervisor didn’t misgender me – he eventually slipped up but it was an impressive run. 

That is not to say things are perfect. There are a small number of professors on my corridor who are seemingly incapable of using they/them no matter how many times they are corrected. Meeting new PhD students always comes with an anxious wondering of how they will react when I introduce myself with my pronouns. And I still felt humiliated when, speaking about my experiences as a non-binary person on a panel for IWD, the chair introduced me as “her”. It’s also not ideal that I have to travel down two flights of stairs to get to the nearest gender-neutral toilets, though this could be a lot worse.   

With current events and the ongoing erosion of gender affirming healthcare, it is easy to despair. Every scaremongering headline about detransition, youth gender confusion, or the infiltration of women’s spaces chips away at the feeling of safety I associate with Manchester. After the recent Supreme Court Ruling, I joined the trans staff network. For three years, I never knew it existed. But now I have found my people. Knowing there are other people like me at the university, surviving and thriving, has made a huge difference in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile.  

On this day of non-binary visibility, I am reminded that we have so many allies. So many of my colleagues have my back, correcting the misgendering (especially when I am not in the room) and being vocal in their support of non-binary people. Along with Manchester’s trans and gender non-conforming community, they are the ones who make this city, and this university, feel like home for me. 

Related