Trigender
Having three genders.
Trigender means having three genders. It sits under multigender, next to bigender, and the three may be present together or take turns.
The three are not required to be man, woman and nonbinary, and frequently are not. Any three genders qualify, including three that the usual vocabulary struggles to name separately.
As with bigender, the genders need not be equally strong or equally often present. A count is not a claim about balance.
Trigender is not man, woman and something else by default
The assumption is that a third gender must be added to the binary pair, which imports the binary into a word that does not need it.
The genders in question are whichever three the person has, and for many people none of them is a binary one.
Saying it well
Say this
- I am trigender.
- Three, and they are not the obvious three.
- Trigender, so the mix depends on the day.
- Bigender, trigender, polygender: it is just the count.
Not this
- So which one is the real one
- That is not possible
- Pick one to lead with
- Three is too many
Questions people actually ask
What does trigender mean?
Having three genders, held together or in alternation.
Do the three have to include man and woman?
No. Any three genders qualify.
Is trigender a type of multigender?
Yes, with the number specified.