In the West, they tell me:
there are two kinds of people,
two shades of gender,
black and white,
man and woman.
But I tell them:
look beyond your narrow lens,
beyond the boundaries of your minds.
In Hawaii, the Mahu stand,
neither black nor white,
neither man nor woman,
a spectrum of identities,
dancing between worlds,
honored in their truth.
Two-Spirit people,
of Native America,
exist in the spaces
between your lines,
embodying balance,
a sacred harmony.
And they tell me:
gender is binary,
like night and day.
But I tell them:
look to the Hijra of South Asia,
look to the Fa’afafine of Samoa,
living and breathing,
beyond your confines.
In the West, they persist:
gender is simple,
male and female.
But I tell them:
gender is a spectrum,
a rainbow of identities,
each shade a story,
each hue a soul.
And I ask:
how can you confine
the vastness of humanity,
to two narrow boxes?
In the West, they say:
it is the norm.
But I tell them:
what is normal to the spider
is chaos to the fly.
Those who don't conform
face persecution,
face harm,
for being true to themselves.
Their existence,
challenged and attacked,
by minds closed and hearts hardened.
And I tell them:
in the Arabic world,
genders outside the binary
have existed for centuries,
an intrinsic part of history,
the Mukhannathun,
the Khaneeth,
recognized and lived.
In the West, they say:
it cannot be true.
But I tell them:
learn from the world,
from cultures rich and deep,
listen to the whispers
of ancient lands,
see the colors beyond your black and white.
I tell them:
your binary is a myth,
a construct of control,
blinding you to the truth.
And I ask:
when will you open your eyes,
to the shades of gender,
to the palette of human experience,
to the diversity of our being?
In the West, they remain:
fixed in their ways.
But the world is vast,
its people varied and true.
We are not confined to black and white,
nor to man and woman.
We are shades of color, gender, and difference,
each of us a unique and vibrant story.
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