Are Non-Binary People Really Essentialist?: A response to Garrison’s 2018 article “On the Limits of ‘Trans Enough’: Authenticating Trans Identity Narratives.”
In a response to Spencer Garrison’s 2018 article “On the Limits of ‘Trans Enough’: Authenticating Trans Identity Narratives”, we argue that despite the author’s contributions to the theoretical understanding of non-binary identities, there are serious issues with the paper. We challenge Garrison’s assertions that non-binary individuals reproduce the gender binary in that they are more likely than binary trans individuals to use essentialist narratives to construct their gender identity. Due to Garrison’s criteria for participation in his study, all participants identified as trans and were in the process of transitioning. However, not all non-binary individuals identify as trans and consequently Garrison’s theorizing from a small sample of trans identified non-binary folks is problematic. We argue that the small sample size and Garrison’s recruitment strategy do not capture the wide range of individuals who identify as non-binary and that this small sample is not enough for Garrison to generalize about non-binary identified folks. Gender identity is a complex issue and while we commend Garrison for his contribution to the field, we argue that such work should be done with diligence as to ensure that research does not render identities invisible in early attempts to theorize with small samples.