What Does It Mean To Be Bigender?

To start, bigender is a gender identity that is classified under the umbrella term of transgender, according to Mind Body Green. In contrast to cisgender individuals, those who are transgender have a gender identity that does not correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth (per WebMD). Bigender individuals are also considered to be nonbinary, as their gender identity does not fit within the binary system of gender.

At its core, being bigender means identifying with two or more gender identities. As explained by Ted Lewis, the director of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's All Children All Families program: "While bigender includes the prefix 'bi,' denoting two, the term has evolved and come to mean someone who identifies as more than one gender. That could be simultaneous, that could be fluctuating, but it means identifying beyond one gender" (via Seventeen).

For example, a bigender person could identify as both a man and a woman, either at the same time or alternatively (per Cosmopolitan). However, this identity is not limited to the binary but can include labels like agender, genderqueer, trans femme, etc.

In this way, expressions of bigenderism will vary depending on the person and their specific labels. It's also important to note that this gender identity does not come with set pronouns or sexual orientation, so you'll want to be mindful of this with the language you use to discuss gender.