Hi Ollie or Milo!

Thanks for reaching out.

First, let’s talk about the meaning of being trans. A trans person is someone who doesn’t identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, as you probably already know. The term “trans” is an umbrella term, including trans men, trans women and many non-binary people. Considering the fact that non-binary people don’t identify exclusively as a man or a women, which means they don’t generally identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, they could also define themselves as trans!

With that being said, some people prefer to only use one term or the other, it’s only a matter of how you perceive your identity in relation to these definitions. I can’t tell you if you’re non-binary or only trans, but what I can tell you is that you have the possibility to identify yourself with the term that speaks to you the most. You could identify as non-binary if you think this is the term that best represents you, or you could identify as trans (as an umbrella term or as a trans guy) or you could identify as a trans non-binary person. If you want, you can explore the different non-binary identities.

Finally, yes, you could be non-binary and be more masculine and still like some feminine things, whether it’s related to your gender identity or your gender expression, which are two different things. Gender identity is more of an internal feeling while gender expression is a way to present ourselves with physical things typically associated with masculinity or femininity, such as clothes, hairstyle, voice, behaviors, etc. Because those two are not necessarily related, a person can identify as a man (trans or cis) and have a gender expression that is considered feminine or a person can be non-binary and have a masculine gender expression, and many more options! On another hand, exploring our gender expression can sometimes help us learn more about how we want to present ourselves to others, which can help us develop a better understanding of our gender identity.

You could also be non-binary and go by he/him pronouns, as well as they/them. You’re also right regarding medical transition, non-binary people also have access to hormones and surgeries if they want to. Medical transition or not, their non-binary identity will always be valid.

I hope this answer will help. Feel free to contact us again if you have any more questions!

Émilie (she/her), for AlterHéros