What could gender be in the future?

I do a lot of dreaming in my waking hours. Dreaming about what the future could be. Dreaming about how communities will interact and how people will connect. Dreaming about how our individual lives and experiences of our bodies will change.

So when I think of the future, when I think about the future of gender; I really do believe that xenogenders are the future. Not in the sense that we will all use micro-labels to identify ourselves. But in the sense that we will be free to describe our gender freely. Gender is an embodied thing, its not just one facet of our identity. It is how we understand our bodies and adorn them.

For me, my experience of gender is ever evolving and transient. So I freely take on and discard words as I need them to describe the felt sense that is my gender. Sometimes gender feels divine and connected to something in the far reaches of space. Sometimes gender is dead and still, having left my body. Sometimes gender can best be described as a little frog prince who never wants to be human again.

So, when I see people deride and dismiss xenogenders as invalidating the rest of the trans and nonbinary community; I have to wonder. Why are you so aligned with the pathologization of someone else’s experience of their body?

If your curiosity was piqued by my writing here, I invite you to follow my IG @queerlich. I’m planning to host an IG Live answering and expanding on that very question. By following you can be sure to receive the announcement of that date & time. Come share space with me as I unload my thoughts on gender.

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Content Warning: mention of spiders in the next section for the oracle card of the month. scroll to the “What’s New” heading to skip it

The Wisdom of the Tarantula

In my Year Ahead Spread, the month of the Horse has just ended and the month of the Tarantula begins. Now it’s important to note that in the Wild Unknown Oracle deck, there is a Spider card separate from the Tarantula. Where the Spider is about lying in wait to catch prey through it’s intricate web; the Tarantula is a nocturnal hunter. They specialize in tackling prey much larger than they are; some species eat frogs and fish in addition to insects.

I know a lot of people fear spiders. But they, like all creatures, have something to teach us. The Tarantula teaches us the importance of following intuition, using our instincts to determine where we need to go next. In our life, “prey” may be the goals we set sights on, or the desires we want to take hold of for ourselves. This month for me stresses the importance of following the path I determine for my Self. Of showing up in my gift and sharing it with the world.

Till soon,

Maverick Lumen; They/佢

I am currently working, playing, and living as a settler of mixed race on the traditional unceded territory of the sq̓əc̓iy̓aɁɬ təməxʷ (Katzie), Kwantlen, Musqueam, Semiahmoo, S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), sc̓əwaθenaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsawwassen), and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. This is also part of the traditional marine territory of the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group, which represents several Indigenous groups covering Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and the lower Fraser River. Find out whose land you're on here.