IntraSpectrum Counseling is proud to commemorate World Agender Pride Day, a time to celebrate people who identify as agender and the diversity of gender identities, and focus on the important work of creating safe and inclusive spaces for all genders. This reflection on World Agender Pride Day is authored by Jack Smith-Moore, MSW, LCSW, a member of the IntraSpectrum Counseling team.
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New to celebrating Agender Pride Day? Well, you are not alone, as it’s a relatively newer day of celebration within the LGBTQ+/gender non-conforming communities. This day is all about acknowledging, showing respect for, and celebrating all those who identify with having no gender at all! Before going through how you can commemorate Agender Pride Day, let’s acknowledge the modern history of the day.
10 years ago, the Agender Pride Flag was created by an agender individual to be a standard of pride, power, and community for those who identity as agender. I’m a sucker for symbolism so you’re going to get the rundown:
- The flag consists of 7 stripes
- The black and white stripes represent the absence of gender
- The grey stripes represent semi-genderlessness
- The green stripe in the center is to symbolize the agender individuals who make up an important part of the broader non-binary community
About 6 years ago, in May of 2017, Agender Pride Day was celebrated using this very flag to begin building more understanding, awareness, and respect for those within the agender community!
Quick overview for those who may be reading this blog to gain understanding. Being agender can mean something different to different people. At its base, the term refers to having no gender identity. Being agender is a subset of the non-binary spectrum. All agender people are nonbinary, but not all non-binary people are agender.
For some, being agender might mean feeling indifference towards gender, while for others it may mean actively not identifying as not having a gender. Those who are agender are NOT confused, indecisive, or going through a phase – they have a strong sense of who they are!
Commemorating Agender Pride Day is about sharing! For agender individuals, this could mean sharing personal stories, experiences, and feelings with others in different ways in the hope to inspire, educate, and possibly resonate with those who may be going through similar experiences. For allies it is about sharing respect and support of those who are agender, by listening, engaging in conversation, and using correct pronouns (and if you are not sure, let’s normalize asking everyone what their pronouns are – it is so simple and it can mean the difference between being and not feeling seen).
As with any day of Pride, our aim is to shine a light on how beautiful human diversity can be, and that it is not enough to accept the differences we have with others but to CELEBRATE them, in the hope that there can be a future where all individuals, regardless of their gender identity, feel valued and free to be themselves. Click here for more information and resources on World Agender Pride Day.
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World Agender Pride Day is observed annually on May 19. As Chicago’s leading psychotherapy practice dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community, IntraSpectrum Counseling is proud to acknowledge and celebrate WAPD. Every day, we strive to provide the highest quality mental health care for clients of all ages and across the spectrum of identities. For anyone needing affirming and validating support or healing with any issue, please click here or email us at help@intraspectrum-chicago.com.
Today, July 26th, is National Disability Independence Day. This annual commemoration marks the day in 1990 when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. The ADA enshrined several crucial civil rights protections for individuals with disabilities, but it still falls short of its intended goals after over 30 years on the books.