Neptunic
Attraction to women and nonbinary people.
Neptunic describes attraction to women and nonbinary people, and not to men. It is part of a set of orientation words that group people differently from the usual categories, and its counterpart is uranic, attraction to men and nonbinary people.
The grouping is the point. Most orientation words split along the man–woman line and leave nonbinary people to be added on afterwards. These two split along a different line and include nonbinary people from the start.
It is used by people of any gender. A woman, a man and a nonbinary person can all be neptunic, since the word describes the direction of attraction and not the speaker.
There is a third, saturnic, for attraction to nonbinary people only. The three are named after planets for no reason more profound than that the set needed names.
Neptunic includes trans women without needing to say so
The suspicion that a word grouping women and nonbinary people must be excluding trans women arrives fairly often, usually from people unfamiliar with where the word comes from.
It comes out of communities where trans women are women without qualification. The grouping concerns nonbinary people, who are otherwise an afterthought in every other orientation word.
Saying it well
Say this
- I am neptunic.
- Women and nonbinary people.
- Neptunic, so not men.
- Uranic is the other one.
Not this
- So you are bi
- That excludes trans women, then
- Why not just say bisexual
- Planets, really?
Questions people actually ask
What does neptunic mean?
Attraction to women and nonbinary people, and not to men.
What is the counterpart of neptunic?
Uranic, attraction to men and nonbinary people.
Who can be neptunic?
Anyone of any gender. The word describes the direction of attraction, not the speaker.
Does neptunic include trans women?
Yes, without qualification. It comes from communities where that is not in question.