After reading excerpts from Beyond the Gender Non-binary, I liked the way Alok summarized the whole concept of gender identity. There was a lot of infiltration that I didn’t know before reading these excerpts. For instance, there was a part of the book where they mentioned cultures outside the western culture that are more accepting and had people where they were considered leaders if they were out of the gender norm. 

I didn’t know this and this intrigued me to learn more about how different cultures accept people outside of gender normality. I feel like this has also given me an insight into how we follow gender rules in our everyday lives and we don’t even realize it. It starts even before we are born. 

I also learned that a lot of people who are trans or non-binary go through a lot of discrimination throughout their daily lives. Even some are murdered simply for expressing themselves. This is horrible and is something that many people don’t know or don’t take seriously. Countless transgender and non-binary POC are harassed and are more likely to be murdered.

I feel like this book is something a lot of people should read so that they can have a clearer understanding of gender identity. It can be hard to wrap your head around these types of stuff because they can be confusing for first-timers. But as you further educate yourself you can have a better understanding of how these people feel. It’s not a disease nor is it something they do to seek attention, it is simply their identity.