Gender expression and identity, under colonialism, is considered as binary, either masculine or feminine, but some people fall somewhere along – or outside of – the spectrum of gender. Trans and gender diverse identities (as well as cultural ‘third genders’ such as two-spirit) exist more frequently in Autistic communities than in non-Autistic communities.

Many Autistic people are deep thinkers and like to consider all sides of an identity and how these may respond to other identities and life events (I know I do). We do this despite living in a world which does not cater to our needs and interests. These differences in social understanding and cognition may allow us to understand gender as entirely expansive. If our brains are different, why can’t our gender be?

Working outside of societal expectations, and purposely challenging them, means we can experience and express gender identities in a wholly individual manner – we can dress and interact with others in ways which fit our own individual needs and interests. Our constant reflection can also show that gender expression and identity can change across the lifetime (as it can for cisgender people too).

Unfortunately, a lot of the research around the gender diverse / Autistic intersection is less than complimentary, considering both autism and gender diversity as abnormalities created by Autistic deficits. Fortunately, there is a growing area of  work that appreciates that many Autistic people have strong self-understanding and reflexivity. There is so much work on and offline by Autistic trans people, and our allies, which champions these identities as an important part of human diversity.

Much of this work appreciates the unique and insightful experiences within LGBTQ+ and Autistic experiences and moves away from the focus on why we are who we are towards what can be done about our specific support needs. This way of thinking is helping us all become more critically conscious, allowing us to challenge ableism and cis-genderism, whilst creating a world which is more richly diverse and radically accepting.

Working within this intersection, either as an individual, advocate, academic, ally (or some mixture of these) means we can start to deconstruct the systems which effect all Autistic and / or gender diverse people – toxic masculinity, patriarchy, colonisation, white supremacy…There is great power at the intersections, and this is being woefully underestimated and underutilised.