Multigender
Having more than one gender, at once or in turn.
Multigender is the umbrella for having more than one gender. Bigender is two, trigender is three, polygender is several, pangender is many or all. The umbrella exists for people who do not want to count.
The genders may be held at the same time or may alternate, and they need not be equally present. Someone can be firmly one gender and faintly another for years without either changing.
It is distinct from genderfluid, which describes movement between genders rather than holding more than one. Some people are both, and say so.
Multigender is not indecision
Having more than one gender is regularly read as having failed to settle on one, which assumes that one is the correct number.
It is also not the same as fluidity. Genderfluid describes movement; multigender describes plurality, and a person can be either without the other.
Saying it well
Say this
- I am multigender.
- More than one, and I am not counting.
- Multigender rather than genderfluid: they are both there at once.
- Bigender is multigender with the number given.
Not this
- So you cannot decide
- Pick the main one
- That is just genderfluid
- Nobody can have two genders
Questions people actually ask
What does multigender mean?
Having more than one gender, either simultaneously or in alternation.
What is the difference between multigender and genderfluid?
Multigender is about having several genders; genderfluid is about moving between them.
How many genders can someone have?
There is no fixed number, which is part of why the umbrella term exists.