The current generation of students in the United States has watched the world around them change. The current graduating class of 2019 was just transitioning into high school when gay marriage was legalized. Many of our first political discussions have been about what it means to support the lgbt community, about how allowing for progressive laws may or may not affect the general public, about how a year after gay marriage was legalized new laws came about that allowed for discrimination against lgbt couples who did choose to get married, about how two years later there were more discussions about turning people away from the military because of their gender identity.

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We all live in a time period in which lgbtq rights have gained attention. This attention is a response to decades of work done by people in the lgbtq community. It branches from the civil rights movement, where women like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera and so many other trans women took charge in a frightening world. They were there for the first pride parade, an event that was once a dangerous display of a sexual revolution. They were there for the AIDS crisis in America and they were there when they broke ground on the first ever lgbtq youth center. if you look back at the history of America—of women’s rights, marriage equality, women’s suffrage—you will always find that these women were there, digging their heels in. In fact, they were behind the very beginnings of the famous stonewall riots. We often read about the riots and looked at pictures of strong, independent, inspiring women who took control in the 70s, but it is often forgotten that so many movements were inspired or initiated or outspokenly supported by the lgbtq community. 

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Gender Identity Before Pop Culture:

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While labels may be a trend, the fluidity of gender is not something manifested by modern culture. Gender non-conforming individuals have showed up time and time again throughout recorded history. For example, in Indian culture, there is the concept of a hijra, which is a label for those who identify as something other than the gender they were assigned at birth. Hijras have existed in India for a very long time and are even mentioned in the Kama Sutra where they are described as people with a "third nature" due to their detachment from a binary. While this term came about long ago, it maintains a derogatory tone in India to date.

Early 19th century Indonesia has a similar history, displaying the same disrespect towards the gender non-conforming. To Indonesians, these people are known as Waria, which means "third gender". The term is widely recognized, but Waria themselves are ridiculed more often than not.

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Other cultures have responded differently to those who do not conform to a gender binary. To many Indigenous tribes of America, being fluid with your gender has long been a source of envy to those who fall to a binary gender. These “two-spirit” people are considered to have a greater ability to tie the physical and spiritual world together. As a result, they often maintain positions of power.

The Juchitán region of Mexico does not necessarily revere those who do not follow the gender binary, called ‘muxes’ in their culture, but these people are considered to be a blessing to the home. Families are considered to be lucky to love someone who lives in the “netherworld between genders”.

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These are just a few documented examples of the role gender identity has played in society outside of the current United States. Many more exist, but they all show the same thing: gender maintains a fluidity that can ridiculed, respected, or revered based on the standing of a given culture.