Jon: Beyond the Binary

Jon was born in 1992, assigned female at birth. They lived in Saudi Arabia as a young child, before moving to the UK.

When Jon was 12 or 13, they understood themselves as queer, but later, when Jon was 16, they started to question their gender identity and began a process of transition, first through private healthcare and later through the NHS. Jon is now at a post-transition stage. For a time, J identified as a trans man and presented as masculine, but later came to identify as non-binary; it was being to present as masculine that J developed a more fluid approach to gender identity.

Whilst a teenager, J was a Christian for a time, but later identified as a Heathen for several years. Now they are exploring Judaism, drawn to the strong sense of community and the nuanced theology, in which the concept of God is open to interpretation and debate. J has found a new sense of peace since starting on a path towards converting to Judaism.

J has been heavily involved in trans activism, but is now at a point where they have stepped back, and feel slightly jaded. J set up the website Beyond the Binary, which offers a platform for non-binary people to write about their experiences; the mainstream media is often lacking when it comes to representation of trans people.