// Hello, I’m Roe.
I recently came out as nonbinary. It’s something that I have been thinking about for a long time as I feel that I don’t fit in the “normal” genders and their roles. The label nonbinary feels perfect for me, it just fits. I want nothing to do with gender norms. I get in touch with my masculine and feminine side. The repressed parts of yourself will start to eat at you until it feels like it’s taking up so much of your life. When you finally get to feel free, hate will bounce off of you and you will see your hobbies/interests/personality define you. My life is not a lifestyle, it is my nature. My pursuit is to further be my most natural side. Gender is a social construct and a spectrum.
I do have imposter syndrome, however. It feels like I don’t belong to the LGBTQ+ community even though I know I will be accepted without question. Even better than the community that I actually live in.
The things I do or feel don’t feel connected to a concept of gender. It just feels like me. No desire to be seen as either by other people. I Just want to be seen as me.
Ever since I started thinking of myself as non-binary, I’ve felt at ease, giddy even. Is this what it’s always been like for other people? I’ve been living at varying levels of confusion my whole life, and now that confusion is gone.
When someone calls me Roe? Euphoric. Wearing clothing? Much better when I can just think about looking good rather than thinking about how masculine/feminine I look. Intentionally narrating my own life in my head using they/them pronouns? Guaranteed to make me smile.
I just feel so much better this way. It’s kind of ridiculous. Of course, this has also caused some anxiety that I’ll need to solve. This whole thing is really scary, too. About being accepted by family, by friends, and by the community as a whole. But here, I want to talk about how happy accepting myself has made me. Because despite the stress, it feels like I’ve finally figured myself out.
Roe Vance Art 
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