Hi everyone welcome to gender spectrum's non binary interview series.
My name is jenna I'm the project coordinator at Gender Spectrum and today I'm here with
Kevin and we are doing this interview series to really just have conversations with young
people who identify somewhere along the non-binary spectrum.
I'm here with Kevin today i'm super excited and you had told me that you described yourself
as a YouTuber that creates comedic LGBT videos in hopes of helping the the younger generation
and everyone else.
Yes.
Which I think is super awesome.
Is there anything else you want to add in terms of an introduction about yourself?
I'm currently a student at the University of Washington, Bothell double majoring in
media and communications as well as gender, women and sexuality studies.
Just studying those two I feel like goes perfectly with what I am doing right now with YouTube
media communications and making LGBT content so it goes with my second degree.
I only have one year left so I'm super excited about that.
Hopefully I can do YouTube and social media full time if not I'm sure I will slay the
real world too.
Awesome, so let's just jump in.
I feel like a great starting place is just starting with why do you identify as non-binary
and sort of what does that mean to you, feel to you, why does that feel like the right
word to sort of reflect your experience?
So I identify as non-binary because I never found myself really fitting into the gender
norm of boy or the masculine side of that and I never necessarily felt that I was a
girl or that I could be transgender.
So i was like okay so maybe I am a feminine boy or something along the lines of that maybe
I am transgender and i'm just in the middle of that and you know something that really
stood out to me about being non-binary is that is doesn't have rules.
It doesn't put you into a box of yes your are a girl or you are a boy rather it's
kind of im between and I really felt like that's what really reflected me as a person
and I was like you know what this sounds like me and I feel really comfortable being a boy
but being more feminine in that aspect.
Mhm.
Is there anything that you feel like in terms of non-binary identities that's like a misconception
or that something that people assumes about someone who identifies as non-binary that
doesn't really speak to your experience?
Yeah a lot of people well since I do YouTube i will get so many comments from younger folks
saying oh he's definitely in the process of becoming a girl he's definitely transgender,
give it 2 years or something and to me that's kind of offensive because although yeah I
may seem more outwardly feminine that doesn't necessarily mean I am a girl or will become
a girl or what not.
I just think that we need to have more education and just have people understand that non-binary
is it's own category it's it's own gender and that people who do identity as non-binary
don't necessarily fit into the mold of wanting to become this or that they're just themselves.
Mhm, so maybe it can sometimes feel that people are putting you into the box of either male
or female?
Exactly, they're like he's gonna become a girl one day or this is just a phase.
Mhm, yeah.
I'm curious what the process was for you of figuring out sort of that that term made
sense for you.
Did you look up other YouTube videos or how did you come to like oh this makes sense for
me?
Yeah, well growing up I've always known I definitely was more of a feminine guy.
When i was little I was interested in the Power Puff Girls.
That was my tv show when i was little.
My birthday cake when I was 5 years old was The Little Mermaid so I definitely had more
feminine interests and mannerisms which is totally fine and it wasn't until I went to
college and I became orientation leader and we had this camp where we got to bond with
our other orientation leaders and teammates and we actually had a trans guy on our team
and during the camp I was rooming with him in a cabin and during the first night I had
this conversation about gender and identity and how he found out he was trans and I was
like maybe I am, can you help me figure it out?
And he just gave me a lot of insight on the different terms.
He gave me so many different terminologies and identities and I was just like okay I
realized that it is more of a spectrum.
Gender is more of a spectrum rather than concrete boxes and it wasn't till he told me that genderqueer
or non-binary is a term that exists and I was like you know what I feel like I identify
as that and because of the insight that he gave me and getting insight from someone within
the LGBT community it definitely gave me a better perspective on who I was and that was
definitely something that got me interested in studying gender as well so because of him
it definitely help me figure out who i was.
Yeah and i know a lot of people who google different terms.
I personally was never one to research.
I don't know i just was like I'm just me, I'm just kevin, that is who i am.
But definitely listening to other people and learning from other people who have experienced
things within the LGBT community definitely will broaden your perspective and make you
understand better about yourself and about others as well.
Mhm, yeah.
What is something or a few things that are positive pieces that you feel impact being
non-binary.
I know we hear a lot of about things that are negative or difficult or spaces that aren't
accessible.
So i'm just curious if there's anything about being non-binary that you find is really positive?
Yeah so being non-binary the one things that i love about it is that I can to get express
myself in whatever way i want.
Fashion and makeup is one of the biggest parts of my life and my interests and I love it
so much.
Just getting to explore more and more on that side and getting to express myself in that
side it's so much fun for me.
I feel like if you live in a box you are confined to just that type of expression.
With me I can wear feminine clothes, masculine clothes or I can mix them both.
And I think that really gives me a more unique look and it definitely has impacted a lot
of other people.
They see you know you're a guy that wears girl clothes, I can feel empowered to do the
same or something else similar.
I think that's definitely something positive within being non- binary is that you get to
express yourself in different ways.
For me personally, boy clothes are kind of simple.
It's like t shirts, jeans, and a hat or thats its.
I'm like okay well I want to experiment and wear a skirt or scarves and tights and leggings
and stuff because i get to explore more on that side i feel like there's more creative
outlets with that.
Mhm yeah.
What about in terms of finding community or finding other folks who are supportive of
your gender identity.
Do you mostly go to YouTube for that or are there any other spaces?
What's been your experience finding community around that?
Yeah well in high school we had a LGBT gay straight alliance club.
I was involved with that for a quite short amount of time but then in college there is
much more diversity and and there's much more acceptance and openness with LGBT people.
So there are spaces on my college campus where we are allowed to come in and feel safe and
comfort and talk to one another.
That is a place to to have discussion and stuff.
But mainly for me, I find my main support on the internet and I feel like just making
friends that are similar to you or support you for who you are.
It's just one of the biggest ways to find support because the internet is just a magical
place!
Yeah lots of options on the internet to find like minded folks for sure.
Well i think you kind of touched on this a little bit but do you have any advice for
young people who might be watching this program who are sort of figuring out their own gender
identity?
Yeah definitely I think one of the biggest advice I have to give to young folks who are
figuring out who they are whether they are nonbinary, transgender or what not is just
to take your time because a lot of comments that I get on my Youtube Videos come from
young folks saying I don't know who I am and I want to figure it out like tomorrow!
It's definitely a process it will take some time, also you want to be more mindful of
where you're coming from and what environment you are in.
Because let's say you are coming from a conservative family and you just go on full force with
whoever you are, they may not take it as well and I definitely think that transitioning
into whoever you become slowly is the best way because not only does it give you time
to figure it out and be more secure with who you are it also gives people around you time
to find more comfort and acceptance more at their pace as well.
So the biggest advice I would give is to just take time because you never know!
You never know!
Yeah i think that's great, great advice.
Any other thoughts or any last things you want to say?
I definitely would like to say that you know life is to short to live against other people's
rules and societies social norms and stuff as long as you are a nice person and you are
willing to open up and learn about other people then be who you are, if you mean no harm then
there's no problem in being who you are.
Yeah I think that's great, I think that's an awesome awesome note to end on.
I just wanted to thank you so much for being a part of this and sharing your experience
and your thoughts on this topic.
For folks watching make sure to check out the link in the description we will have to
Kevin's YouTube channel, Flawlesskevin.
We will have links in there so be sure to check that out and we also have a non-binary
teen group in the gender spectrum lounge so if you're looking to connect with teens
that is a great way to continue this conversation and look out for more interviews for this
series.
Bye!
Bye!
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