By Nia Rutledge

Looks like a girl, talks like a girl, walks like a girl. Must be a girl.

Looks like a boy, talks like a boy, walks like a boy. Must be a boy.

The idea that a person assigned as male or female at birth will forever be a man or a woman is a common misconception. Being genderqueer in a world that predominantly focuses on set male-female titles sets creates an imbalance, ranging from the lack of gender neutral bathrooms to not having one’s gender represented on most questionnaires.

We live in a world that was made to conform to the straight, cisgender masses. It’s as if everyone falls under two neat categories. Those that don’t fit into that category are left to fend for themselves, and to feel outcast — even more so in high school when being a part of the majority is the only way to escape with minor cuts and bruises.

When you are part of the majority, you tend to be unaware of others’ struggles. You don’t go through the same choices or discrimination, whether it be deciding to correct someone when they use the wrong pronoun for you or choosing which bathroom to enter.

“Having to choose makes me feel uncomfortable,” senior Shane Whitney said. “It really sucks that our school doesn’t have a gender neutral bathroom, except for the nurse’s office.”

Maybe you haven’t even heard the concept of being genderqueer. It can be hard to wrap your head around if you don’t know someone who is genderqueer or if you haven’t been exposed to gender identity.

“Gender is a box that you create for yourself,” junior and Gay Straight Alliance member Isaiah Young said. “And, you get to decide where those corners are and how long the sides are. So, your box can be as big or small as your want it to be. Some people have bigger boxes.”

Generally, you learn that sex and gender are interchangeable — another common misconception.

“Gender is how you perceive you are,” Whitney said. “But, sex is geniatilia.”

Often we are quick to make assumptions about people based on how they present themselves. These are unconscious thought processes because our brains are made to analyze information. But first impressions are just guesses based on outward appearances. When determining a person’s gender, how they present themselves visually is a decent determination of which pronouns to use. But how they present themselves does not dictate sexual orientation.

“Someone may identify themselves as female. But, then also identify as straight. Or identify as female and then identify as lesbian. Or female and bisexual. A person who identifies as female may not be genetically female,” said Shannon Draper, the adviser for GSA. “Gender identity has to do with how an individual sees him or herself whereas sexual orientation has to do with physical preference of partner. The two are not synonymous.”

If you are unsure of a person’s preferred pronouns, you can use gender neutral pronouns such as: they, them, their, etc. If the situation doesn’t quite fit with those pronouns, simply ask if you are unsure of what they would prefer. The same goes for sexual orientation.

“We haven’t been raised as, ‘Oh, wait, they could be gay,’ ” sophomore and GSA member Hannah Hall said. “So, right now I think that’s fine. But, later on in our generations, I think people might get offended. So, until you actually find out from them that they are anything other than straight, it’s fine.”

When it comes to choosing a path that not as many choose, there are always the people who will not be supportive and will try to invalidate the decision.

“You can’t change who somebody is. They are born the way they are and that’s not going to change them even if you try really hard to force them into it,” senior and GSA student president Andrea Summey said.

Even if you don’t agree with a person being genderqueer, it’s not necessary to harass them. Being bigoted and not being supportive have differing meanings and actions.

“If people could just be more open to the concept of something other than their particular orientation, that would probably help a lot,” Young said.

America, land of the free. But home of marriage inequality. We can’t excel as as a country when we don’t have equality for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. We are all human beings and our rights should all be level.

“I would really like to see society as a whole become more inclusive other than exclusive,” Draper said. “We are stronger in the things that unite us compared to the things that divide us.”

We all deserve to be recognized and public places should accommodate the gender choices we make for ourselves.