Beyond Non Binary

BEYOND NON BINARY

a conference across two sessions, organised by CamQueerHistory

SESSION I: CRITICAL PRONOUN CIRCLE
25TH FEBRUARY | 16:00 - 18:00 | THRIVE CAFE, NORFOLK ST

SESSION II: PANEL DISCUSSION & PERFORMANCE
27TH FEBRUARY | 18:45 - 21:30 | MCCRUM LECTURE THEATRE

Within the LGBTQ+ community it can feel as if the term ‘non-binary’ has been moved away from. Often, people outside the gender binary identify instead with other labels that imply a gender outside of the binary (trans*, transfag, dyke, butch, femme, etc) rather than the more encompassing term of nonbinary. This hesitance appears within the context of an ever expanding and mainstreamed transphobic culture within the U.K., as well as internal divisions within queer communities, bringing attention to forms of non-binary-ness which centre whiteness and overshadow other forms of material oppression. 

Within this context, we are full of questions. Does the term ‘non-binary’ still operate within the gender binary? How do we positively formulate what it means to not identify, is this a task that needs doing, and what does it say about identity categories more broadly? Our event wants to find space for such discussions, holding their ambivalence and seeking to understand where nonbinary fits within our present cultural moment.

SESSION I: Critical Pronoun Circle

SESSION II: Panel Discussion & Performance

This initial workshop will allow guests to explore what it means to take pronouns seriously, to not just state them but interrogate them, inviting people to share what their pronouns mean and how they actually feel about them. It will finish with a creative badge-making session, where people can make their own ‘nuanced pronoun badges’ informed by the discussion.

with speakers Travis Alabanza, Lloyd/Meadbh Houston  & François.e Charmaille

This is a panel discussion where our panellists will reflect upon historical understandings of this term alongside contemporary identities, and their relationships to cultural production. This is followed by a poetry performance from local and more nationally-recognised poets. After interrogating ‘gender words’ and what we do with them, this poetry section provides the perfect medium to play with them, notice their violence, and rework them for our collective benefit. This section of the event will be recorded.