I had never heard about Alok Vaid-Menon before reading his book “Beyond The Gender Binary”. Which by the way is a very well written book. It is not difficult to understand and the words are clear. I wasn’t too excited to read this for the simple that I thought it was about the discrimination and oppression of LGBTQ communtiy. It is not that I am not sympathetic to this way of living, it’s just not something I care to read about. However, the book was very interesting and I learned some things from it. The word “effeminate” stuck out to me and it means a man showcases women’s tendencies. For example, the way a male walks or carries oneself, that comes off as feminie or girly. I also learned the terms non-binary and gender norms of just female and male. There is many different types of gender terms, such as cisgender, transgender, bigender and more. Alok wishes these terms to be a part of social norms. There has been a lot of discrimation against non-binary people. I feel as if non-binary people are humans too and they deserve the same respect anybody else receive. Non-binary people shouldn’t have to feel unsafe in their own skin. They shouldn’t feel looked down upon because they are wearing certain clothing. Non-binary people are not reaching protection from government, which I think is outrageous. No matter a person’s gender they are a person first before anything.