Agender, Genderless, and Gendervoid, Reprise

We have already discussed the relationships between Agender, Genderless, and Gendervoid, in the Gender Census.

But we haven’t yet examined the other terms that Agender, Genderless, and Gendervoid respondents are most likely to select in the survey.

After a short recap, we'll do just that.

Agender Family Tree

The Gender Census is an annual global online survey of people who have a gender that isn’t exclusively male or female.

Agender, Genderless, and Gendervoid were all checkbox options in 2022.

Agender was the most common term, followed by Genderless, and Gendervoid.



Agender, Genderless, and Gendervoid each refer to someone whose internal experience of gender is that they don’t have one.

A majority of Genderless respondents also selected Agender. 
A majority of Gendervoid respondents also selected Agender. 
A majority of Gendervoid respondents also selected Genderless.



Because majorities of Genderless and Gendervoid respondents identified as Agender, I consider these terms to be part of the Agender Family Tree.

You can examine the statistical relationships between these terms in the table below.

You can click on the tables in this article to view larger versions of them. 
 

You can learn more about these terms, and see how I calculated these results, in Agender, Genderless, and Gendervoid, which I published in November.



Now, let’s examine the other terms that Agender, Genderless, and Gendervoid respondents are most likely to select in the Gender Census.

Agender Pairing Analysis

10,476 people selected Agender in the 2025 Gender Census, representing 24.3% of respondents. 

 

67.8% of Agender respondents identified as Nonbinary. 
57.3% of Agender respondents identified as Queer.

51.1% of Agender respondents selected, “a person / human / [my name] / ‘I’m just me.’ ”

Therefore, majorities of Agender respondents identified as Nonbinary, Queer, and “a person…”




43.2% of Agender respondents identified as Trans. 
 

Therefore, a large minority of Agender respondents identified as Trans. 
 

Although, Agender respondents were less likely to identify as Trans, than Gender Census respondents as a whole.

 

Genderless Pairing Analysis

Genderless most recently appeared as a checkbox option in 2022.

6,291 people selected Genderless in the 2022 Gender Census, representing 15.8% of respondents.

74.7% of Genderless respondents identified as Nonbinary. 

62% of Genderless respondents identified as Agender. 
61.9% of Genderless respondents identified as Queer.



Therefore majorities of Genderless respondents identified as Nonbinary, Agender, and Queer.

Genderless respondents were significantly more likely to identify as Agender, than Gender Census respondents as a whole.




49% of Genderless respondents identified as Gender Non-Conforming. 
 

45.5% of Genderless respondents identified as Enbies. 
43.1% of Genderless respondents identified as Trans.


Therefore, large minorities of Genderless respondents identified as Gender Non-Conforming, Enbies, and Trans.

Gendervoid Pairing Analysis

Gendervoid appeared as a checkbox option in the Gender Census only once, in 2022.

2,695 people selected Gendervoid in the 2022 Gender Census, representing 6.8% of respondents.

 

71.9% of Gendervoid respondents identified as Nonbinary. 
66.9% of Gendervoid respondents identified as Queer.


57.4% of Gendervoid respondents identified as Agender. 
54.5% of Gendervoid respondents identified as Genderless. 
51.6% of Gendervoid respondents identified as Gender Non-Conforming.


Therefore, majorities of Gendervoid respondents identified as Nonbinary, Queer, Agender, Genderless, and Gender Non-Conforming.

Gendervoid respondents were significantly more likely to identify as Agender and Genderless, than Gender Census respondents as a whole.




48.1% of Gendervoid respondents identified as Enbies. 
 

47.64% of Gendervoid respondents identified as Genderqueer. 
47.61% of Gendervoid respondents identified as Trans. 
 

43.8% of Gendervoid respondents identified as Transgender.


Therefore, large minorities of Gendervoid respondents identified as Enbies, Genderqueer, Trans, and Transgender.





This article is part of Season 3 of LGBT by the Numbers, which explores the results of the Gender Census, an annual global online survey of people with a gender that isn’t exclusively male or female.

My most recent article examined Genderfluid, Genderflux, and Bigender, and explored the relationships between the these terms, which are part of the Genderfluid Family Tree.



So join me next time, as we continue to explore LGBT identity, by the numbers. 

 

 

 

 

Genderfluid, Genderflux, and Bigender

Today, we will define and discuss three related terms: genderfluid, genderflux, and bigender.

We will examine how each of these terms has performed in the Gender Census, an annual online global survey of people who have a gender that isn’t exclusively male or female.

We will also use a pairing analysis to learn more about these words, and how they relate to each other.

Definitions

 

Remember, someone's gender and biological sex aren't the same thing, and they don't always align.

 

Genderfluid describes someone whose gender changes over time. 

 

Some genderfluid people have a strong perception of their gender at all times. 

 

But many others do not.  

 

Many genderfluid people have a gender that changes between male and female.  

 

Others are fluid between other genders, such as female and nonbinary, or male and nonbinary.  

 

Genderfluid people can be fluid between more than two genders, as well. 

 

Meticulous Musings has featured videos where genderfluid people discuss their experiences. If you want to learn more, I encourage you to check them out.

 

Bigender refers to someone who identifies with two genders. A bigender person could experience these genders simultaneously, or be fluid between them.

Many bigender people are both male and female.

Other bigender people identify with another set of two genders, such as female and nonbinary, or male and nonbinary.




If someone doesn’t specify what their underlying genders are, I generally assume someone who is genderfluid is fluid between male and female, and someone who is bigender is both male and female.

 

 

A bigender person, who identifies as both a man and as a woman, discussed their experiences on YouTube.

They use the names Maya and Sebastian, depending on the gender they are at the time. 

 

 

 

To be clear, this is a different person than the Sebastian, who is a Trans man, who I have previously discussed on Meticulous Musings.

 

 

Genderflux refers to someone with a gender that varies in intensity over time.

Genderflux can be turned into the suffix “-flux” that can be added to create compound gender terms.




If someone has a gender that is always male, but the intensity of how strongly they experience their male gender is different at different times, they could describe their gender as boyflux or manflux.

Alternatively, they could use two words to describe their gender by saying they are male and genderflux.




If someone has a gender that is always female, but the intensity of how strongly they experience their female gender varies over time, they could describe themselves as girlflux or womanflux.

Alternatively, they could use two words to describe their gender by saying they are female and genderflux.





Some genderflux people spend part of their time feeling agender, which is to say that at those times, they feel they don’t have a gender.

But that isn’t necessarily true for everyone who is genderflux.




Some people describe themselves as both genderfluid and genderflux.

These terms can be combined together as either genderfluidflux or fluidflux.

Those who use both terms seek to convey that both their underlying gender, and the intensity of how strongly they experience their gender, changes over time. 

 

 

Xander, a trans guy who identifies as genderflux, discussed his experiences on YouTube. 

 

 

 

Graphs

 

This graph shows how genderfluid, genderflux, and bigender have performed in the Gender Census since 2015.

Genderfluid is the most common term, followed by genderflux, and bigender.

The graphs in this article were created using flourish, a website that allows users to create compelling visual aids.

You can click on the images in this article to view larger versions of them.




The 2013 Gender Census had fewer respondents than any subsequent survey, and Cassian, the administrator of the Gender Census, has described the 2013 survey as, “more of a pilot survey that informed a better survey in 2015.”

This article, and most others in this series, focus on the results from 2015 to the present, although data from 2013 will be referenced when relevant.




This graph shows how genderfluid has performed in the Gender Census since 2015.

In 2015, genderfluid received 31.2%, its maximum.

Genderfluid gradually fell each year until it reached its minimum of 21% in 2019.

Genderfluid then grew until it reached 25.5% in 2023, and it has declined each year since.

In 2025, genderfluid received 24.4%.



From 2015 to 2025, genderfluid’s average has been 25.3%.



The genderfluid checkbox in the Gender Census has changed subtly over time.

In 2013, it was, “fluid gender.”

There was no Gender Census in 2014.

From 2015-17, it was, “fluid gender / genderfluid.”

From 2018- 25, it has been, “genderfluid / fluid gender.”



“Fluid gender” received 31.3% in 2013, which is only slightly more than the 31.2% its counterpart received in 2015.



This graph shows genderfluid alongside several terms that perform similarly well in the Gender Census.

 

 

This graph shows how genderflux has performed in the Gender Census.

Genderflux appeared as a checkbox in the Gender Census five times, from 2018 to 2022.

Genderflux debuted at 7.4% in 2018, before reaching its minimum of 6.2% in both 2019 and 2020.

Genderflux grew until it reached its maximum of 7.6% in 2022.

Genderflux’s average is 6.9%.




This graph shows genderflux alongside several terms that performed about as well in the Gender Census.

This graph shows how bigender has performed in the Gender Census.

Since 2015, bigender has appeared in the Gender Census nine times.

During that time, bigender reached its maximum of 5.7%, twice. 

 

Bigender received 5.7% in both 2015, and the last time it appeared as a checkbox, in 2024.

Bigender’s minimum was 3.7% in 2019.

Since 2015, bigender’s average has been 4.7%.



Bigender received 6.6% in 2013, more than it has received in any subsequent survey.



 

This graph shows bigender alongside terms that performed similarly well in the Gender Census.

 

 

Genderfluid Family Tree

 

Responses from the Gender Census can be used to determine the percent of respondents who chose one identity term, who also chose another identity term.

This pairing analysis can be used to better understand the relationships between identity terms in the survey.



I first discussed my pairing analysis of the Gender Census in Agender, Genderless, and Gendervoid. 

In that article, I also provided a step-by-step walkthrough of how I calculated my pairing analysis results.





In this section, we will use a pairing analysis to find terms that have a majority of respondents who identify as genderfluid.

These closely-related terms, which are majority genderfluid, are part of the genderfluid family tree.




Genderfluid, genderflux, and bigender each appeared as a checkbox in the 2022 Gender Census.

Genderflux last appeared as a checkbox in 2022, and our pairing analysis will begin there.




The following table shows the overlaps between genderfluid, genderflux, and bigender in the 2022 Gender Census.

In 2022, 61.8% of genderflux respondents identified as genderfluid.

For comparison, only 24% of Gender Census respondents, as a whole, identified as genderfluid.



In 2022, 49.7% of bigender respondents identified as genderfluid.



Therefore, in 2022, a majority of genderflux respondents identified as genderfluid, and a near-majority of bigender respondents identified as genderfluid.




Next, let’s examine the overlaps between genderfluid and bigender in 2024, the last time bigender appeared in the Gender Census.



In 2024, 50.5% of bigender respondents identified as genderfluid.

For comparison, only 24.7% of Gender Census respondents, as a whole, identified as genderfluid.


Conversely, 11.7% of Genderfluid respondents identified as bigender.



Therefore, in 2024, a slight majority of bigender respondents identified as genderfluid.




Both genderflux and bigender have had a majority of respondents who have identified as genderfluid in the Gender Census.

Therefore, I consider both genderflux and bigender to be terms that are closely related to genderfluid.

Taking these majority overlaps into account, I consider both genderflux and bigender to be part of the genderfluid family tree.

Genderfluid Pairing Analysis

 

Now, let’s examine the relationships genderfluid, genderflux, and bigender have with other terms in the Gender Census.

We’ll begin this wider pairing analysis by examining genderfluid in the 2025 Gender Census.



A total of 10,519 people selected genderfluid in 2025, representing 24.4% of Gender Census respondents.

69.8% of genderfluid respondents identified as nonbinary. 
65.5% of genderfluid respondents identified as queer.


54.3% of genderfluid respondents identified as genderqueer. 
51% of genderfluid respondents identified as gender non-conforming. 
50.7% of genderfluid respondents identified as trans.


Therefore, in 2025, majorities of genderfluid respondents identified as nonbinary, queer, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, and trans. 

45.8% of genderfluid respondents identified as transgender. 
40.1% of genderfluid respondents selected, “a person / human / [my name] / ‘I’m just me.’ ”


Therefore, large minorities of genderfluid respondents identified as transgender and “a person…”

Genderflux Pairing Analysis

Next, let’s examine genderflux in the 2022 Gender Census, the most recent survey where it appeared as a checkbox.


A total of 3,018 participants identified as genderflux in 2022, representing 7.6% of Gender Census respondents. 

71.8% of genderflux respondents identified as nonbinary. 
67.1% of genderflux respondents identified as queer. 
61.8% of genderflux respondents identified as genderfluid.


57.4% of genderflux respondents identified as genderqueer. 
54.1% of genderflux respondents identified as gender non-conforming.


Therefore, majorities of genderflux respondents identified as nonbinary, queer, genderfluid, genderqueer, and gender non-conforming.



Genderflux respondents were significantly more likely to identify as genderfluid and genderqueer, than Gender Census respondents as a whole, as you can see in the table above.



49.3% of genderflux respondents identified as enbies. 
47.9% of genderflux respondents identified as trans. 
44.7% of genderflux respondents identified as transgender.


Therefore, large minorities of genderflux respondents identified as enbies, trans, and transgender.

Bigender Pairing Analysis

Now, let’s turn to bigender in the 2024 Gender Census, the last time bigender appeared as a checkbox.

A total of 2,781 participants selected bigender in 2024, representing 5.7% of Gender Census respondents.

62% of bigender respondents identified as queer. 
60.6% of bigender respondents identified as trans.


58% of bigender respondents identified as nonbinary. 
57.2% of bigender respondents identified as transgender.


51.1% of bigender respondents identified as gender non-conforming. 

50.5% of bigender respondents identified as genderfluid. 
50.4% of bigender respondents identified as genderqueer.



Therefore, majorities of bigender respondents identified as queer, trans, nonbinary, transgender, gender non-conforming, genderfluid, and genderqueer.

 

44.4% of bigender respondents identified as transmasculine.

Therefore, a large minority of bigender respondents identified as transmasculine.



Bigender respondents were slightly less likely to identify as nonbinary, than Gender Census respondents as a whole.

Bigender respondents were significantly more likely to identify as genderfluid, than Gender Census respondents as a whole.

 

 

Discussion

Let's imagine someone asks, "Are you male or female?"

Remember, someone's gender and biological sex aren't the same thing, and they don't always align.

 

If someone believes they can't honestly and accurately describe their gender with only one of these two options, they are nonbinary.

Genderfluid and bigender are identities held by people who would reply to the question by answering, “both.”



Although, some genderfluid people are fluid between genders other than male and female.

And some bigender people identify with another set of two genders, other than male and female.



Genderfluid has consistently received more than 20% in the Gender Census. It is currently the most common specific nonbinary identity, and the tenth most common term overall.



Neither genderflux nor bigender has ever received more than 10% in the Gender Census.

Both of these terms are relatively rare, and fairly niche.


Without data from the Gender Census, it might not be apparent just how much more common it is for people to identify as genderfluid than bigender. 




The Pairing Analysis results for genderflux are particularly interesting.

In 2022, 61.8% of genderflux respondents identified as genderfluid.

I consider any majority overlap greater than 60% to be particularly significant.

 

Online, genderflux is often discussed alongside genderfluid, as well as binary gender terms such as boy, girl, man, and woman.

Boy, girl, man, and woman, each appeared as separate checkbox options in the 2022 Gender Census.

There is quite a gap between how likely genderflux respondents are to identify as genderfluid, than as any of the binary terms, mentioned above, as we can see from a pairing analysis of the 2022 survey.

Of the binary gender terms listed above, genderflux respondents were most likely to identify as boys.

In 2022, 25.6% of genderflux respondents selected “boy” in the Gender Census.



That’s far less than the 61.8% of genderflux respondents who selected genderfluid.



The comparatively large percent of genderflux respondents who identify as genderfluid, relative to any of the binary gender terms, is unlikely to be explained simply by the fact that genderfluid performs better than any of the binary gender terms in the Gender Census as a whole, because of just how much larger that overlap is.



This would suggest that genderflux might be best understood as a term most likely to be used by a genderfluid person to signify that both their gender, and the intensity of their gender, changes over time.



That being said, someone who is female and genderflux, or male and genderflux, might not be the kind of person who is most likely to be motivated to take part in the Gender Census, in the first place.


Also, there might be many people, who identify with their birth gender, who would describe themselves as genderflux, if they were familiar with the term, but who haven’t explored specialized gender terms, because they haven’t felt the need to closely examine their gender, in the way many transgender and nonbinary people have.


 

Results from the Gender Census suggest genderflux may be most commonly used alongside genderfluid, rather than alongside binary gender terms.

But it’s still useful to know that genderflux can be paired with those genders as well.



I will also add that if a genderfluid person doesn’t specify that they are genderflux, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t experience variations in the intensity of how strongly they experience their genders.

It simply means they aren’t specifying whether or not they experience variation in how strongly they experience their genders.



Genderflux is also interesting because it’s a term that, by itself, doesn’t specify what someone’s underlying gender is.

Instead, it specifies an aspect of how they experience that underlying gender.

 

In a way, that makes it somewhat similar to trans or transgender, in that these terms, by themselves, also don’t specify what someone’s underlying gender is.

Instead, these terms represent that someone’s gender is different than the gender they were assigned at birth.

 

Likewise, autigender, a term we discussed in a previous article, doesn’t specify what someone’s underlying gender is, either.

Autigender simply means that someone’s autism influences their gender, or how they experience their gender.

Conclusion

Genderfluid describes someone whose gender changes over time.

Genderfluid people will often, but not always, be fluid between male and female.



Bigender refers to someone who identifies with two genders.

Bigender people often, but not always, identify as both male and female.

Bigender people may experience their genders simultaneously, or be fluid between them.



Genderflux refers to someone with a gender that varies in intensity over time.

Genderflux can be turned into the suffix “-flux” that can be used to create compound gender terms, such as genderfluidflux, boyflux, or girlflux.



Comparing the three terms that are the focus of this article, genderfluid is the most common in the Gender Census, followed by genderflux, and bigender.



In different surveys, majorities of both genderflux and bigender respondents have identified as genderfluid.

Therefore, these closely-related terms are part of the genderfluid family tree.



Genderflux respondents were significantly more likely to identify as genderfluid in the Gender Census than as boys, men, girls, or women.

This suggests genderflux might be best understood as a term most likely to be used by a genderfluid person to signify that both their gender, and the intensity of their gender, changes over time.



Although, this may be explained by the possibility that someone with a binary gender, who identifies as genderflux, might not be as motivated to complete the Gender Census, in the first place.

Regardless of how common certain combinations are, it’s worth knowing that genderflux can be paired with any underlying gender, because it’s a term that specifies how someone experiences an aspect of their gender, not what their underlying gender is.





I found this article to be a particularly fun and interesting set of ideas to explain and explore.

If you also found it fascinating, there will be many more fascinating topics and identities to examine in upcoming articles.

This article is part of Season 3 of LGBT by the Numbers, which explores the results of the Gender Census, an annual global online survey of people who have a gender that isn’t exclusively male or female.

So join me next time as we continue to explore LGBT identity, by the numbers.

Cisgender and Binary

 

Now, let’s talk about the least popular terms in the Gender Census, Cisgender and Binary.

 

The Gender Census is an annual global online survey of people who have a gender that isn’t exclusively male or female.

Cisgender and Binary are consistently the least commonly chosen checkboxes in the survey.

They are also, arguably, incorrect answers.

In this article, we will explore what these terms mean, whether they’re incorrect answers, and why they're included in the survey, in the first place.

We will also examine how these terms have performed in the Gender Census over the years. 

Definitions

Cisgender refers to someone who identifies as the gender they were assigned at birth.

By contrast, transgender refers to someone who identifies as a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth.

Cisgender and transgender are opposite, or complementary, terms.




Binary refers to someone who has a gender that's either male or female.

By contrast, nonbinary refers to someone who has a gender that’s something other than exclusively male or female.

Common nonbinary genders include genderfluid and agender.




Binary and nonbinary are opposite, or complementary, terms.

Binary can be used to describe someone who is cisgender or transgender.

In practice, binary is often used in combination with transgender, in the compound term 'binary transgender,' to describe someone who identifies with the binary gender other than the one they were assigned at birth.

Survey Design

A large majority of people are both binary and cisgender.

Only a small percentage of respondents to the Gender Census are binary or cisgender, because the survey is designed to answer questions about the nonbinary community.




Before starting the survey, participants are required to agree with the following statement:

- Yes, I confirm that I don’t really fit into just one of the two boxes of “always, solely and completely a woman/girl” or “always, solely and completely a man/boy.”




Right off the bat, binary, as an identity term, doesn’t seem to be a viable answer, considering the statement above. 



Cisgender doesn’t really make sense, either.

Everyone, or almost everyone, is assigned either male or female at birth.

So identifying with the gender you were assigned at birth doesn’t appear to be a correct answer, considering the statement respondents must agree with to begin the survey.

I would argue that binary and cisgender are wrong answers in the Gender Census.

In certain circumstances, there might be a reason how they could be correct answers.

But from my analysis of the response data, I haven’t found a common reason for why participants chose these responses, that would be consistent with the design and intent of the survey.



 

So, why are cisgender and binary included as options in the survey, in the first place?  

 

Nonbinary and transgender are among the most popular terms in the Gender Census.  

Binary is included so we can compare the percent of respondents who select nonbinary, to the percent who select its opposite, binary.

And cisgender is included so we can compare the percent of respondents who select transgender, to the percent who select its opposite, cisgender.



I discussed how nonbinary and transgender have performed in the Gender Census in Top of the Charts and in my article on the results of the 2025 Gender Census.

Comparisons

Nonbinary has been the most popular term in the Gender Census, every year, from 2015 to 2025.

Binary has been the least popular term in the Gender Census, since it was added as a checkbox in 2018.



You can compare the performance of nonbinary and binary, in the Gender Census, in the graph below.

You can click on the images in this article to view larger versions of them.

I created the graphs in this series using Flourish, a website that allows users to create compelling visual aids. 

From 2015 to 2025, nonbinary’s average has been 64.1%.

For comparison, binary’s average has been 1.2%.

Transgender was the fourth most popular term in 2025, and the fifth most popular term from 2022 to 2024.

Cisgender has been the second least popular term in the Gender Census, every year, from 2017 to 2025.


You can compare the performance of transgender and cisgender, in the Gender Census, in the graph below.

From 2015 to 2025, transgender’s average has been 32%.

For comparison, cisgender’s average has been 2.1%.





This graph shows the lines for cisgender and binary, side by side. 

 
 

 
 

Next, let’s examine the graphs for cisgender and binary, individually.

Cisgender

Cisgender has appeared in the Gender Census every year, beginning in 2015.

Thus, it has been a checkbox option in the survey eleven times.

Cisgender’s minimum was 0.9% in 2016.

Cisgender’s maximum was 3.6% in 2025.



Cisgender’s average is 2.1%, and its range is 2.7%.



Cisgender was the least popular term in the Gender Census in 2015 and 2016.

Cisgender has been the second least popular term in the Gender Census, every year, from 2017 to 2025.

Binary

Binary has appeared in the Gender Census every year, beginning in 2018.

Binary has been the least commonly selected term in the Gender Census in each of the eight years it has appeared in the survey.

Binary’s minimum was 0.5% in 2018.

Binary’s maximum was 1.7% in 2023.


Binary’s average is 1.2%, and binary’s range is also 1.2%.

The Exceptions

Nonbinary and queer were the only two terms chosen by more than half of Gender Census respondents in 2025.

Almost all identity terms have majorities of respondents who selected nonbinary and queer.




Cisgender, binary, and none were the only terms that did not have majorities of respondents who identified as nonbinary.

You can see this in the table below.

 

GNC is an abbreviation for gender non-conforming.

(Person) is an abbreviation for "a person / human / [my name] / 'I'm just me.' " 

The full checkbox for "None" reads "None / I do not describe myself." 

 

The terms with the highest percentage of respondents who identified as nonbinary are listed at the top, and the terms with the smallest percentage of respondents who identified as nonbinary are listed at the bottom.

The entry showing the percent of Gender Census respondents, as a whole, who identify as nonbinary, is highlighted in yellow.

The terms listed above this entry are more likely to identify as nonbinary, than Gender Census respondents as a whole.

The terms listed below this entry are less likely to identify as nonbinary, than Gender Census respondents as a whole.

 

 

I obtained these results through a pairing analysis of terms in the 2025 Gender Census. 

I provided a walkthrough of the methodology behind my pairing analysis in Agender, Genderless, and Gendervoid. 
 

 

 

None and cisgender were the only two terms that did not have majorities of respondents who identified as Queer.

You can see this in the table below.

 

A majority of binary respondents identified as queer, although they were less likely to identify as queer than Gender Census respondents as a whole.

Conclusion

Binary and cisgender are the least commonly selected terms in the Gender Census.  

 

Binary refers to someone who has a gender that's either male or female. 

Cisgender refers to someone who identifies as the gender they were assigned at birth.



Nonbinary and transgender are among the most popular terms in the Gender Census. 

Their opposites, binary and cisgender, are included in the survey, for comparison purposes. 



Binary has been the least popular term in the Gender Census, since it was added as a checkbox in 2018. 

Cisgender was the least popular term in the Gender Census in 2015 and 2016.

Cisgender has been the second least popular term in the Gender Census, every year, from 2017 to 2025.



In 2025, cisgender, binary, and none were the only terms that did not have majorities of respondents who identified as Nonbinary. 

In 2025, none and cisgender were the only two terms that did not have majorities of respondents who identified as Queer.






Many of the recent articles in this series have discussed identity terms in the Gender Census that are included partially for the purposes of survey design. 

These include questioning, none, cisgender, and binary.



Upcoming articles in this series will return to discussing terms that are more clearly nonbinary genders. 

So join me next time, as we continue to explore LGBT identity, by the numbers.

A Close Look at the Nones

Today, we are going to take a close look at the nones.

 

The Gender Census is an annual global online survey of people with a gender that isn’t exclusively male or female.

The Gender Census asks, “Which of the following best describe(s) in English how you think of yourself?”

Respondents can choose as many checkbox terms as they wish, and they can also submit write-in responses.

One of the checkbox options is “none.”



"None" was the third least commonly selected checkbox in 2025.

"None" was chosen by only 4.5% of respondents.

“None” outperformed Cisgender and Binary.

You can click on the images in this article to view larger versions of them.

I created the graphs in this series using Flourish, a website that allows users to create compelling visual aids.




A small change in the wording of the option for “none” in 2022 had a large effect on the number of people who chose it.

“None” was first introduced as an option in 2016, and its wording has undergone a few subtle changes over time.

In 2016, it was, “none / do not describe.”

In 2017, it was, “none / I do not describe.”

From 2018-21, it was, “none / I do not describe myself.”




In 2022, Cassian, who administers the Gender Census, changed the checkbox for “none” to “none / I do not describe myself / ‘I’m just me.’ ”

Cassian did so because respondents submitted write-ins that were similar to what Cassian meant to convey through the option for “none.”

Examples of these write-ins included terms like, "person, human, [my name], and 'I’m just me.' "

The addition of “I’m just me,” spiked the popularity of "none" from 4.4% in 2021 to 16.9% in 2022.



Cassian changed the wording back to, “none / I do not describe myself,” for 2023, and the checkbox has remained the same in subsequent surveys.

Based on feedback, beginning in 2023, Cassian added a new checkbox, “a person / human / [my name] / ‘I’m just me.’ ”

In their report on that year’s results, Cassian described the checkbox as, “an affirmative description," based on write-ins, as opposed to, “a lack of description,” for the “none” option.





“A person…” is one of the most popular options in the Gender Census.

It was the fourth most popular checkbox in 2023 and 2024, and it was the fifth most popular checkbox in 2025.

I discussed “a person…” in Top of the Charts, an article I published earlier this year.

You can also examine how “a person…” performed in the 2025 Gender Census in an article I wrote in September.





None has appeared 10 times in the Gender Census.

None’s minimum was 4% in 2019.

Excluding the outlier of 2022, None’s maximum was 8.5% in 2016.

Excluding the outlier of 2022, None’s average is 4.9%, and its range is 4.5%.





This graph shows how None has performed compared to other terms in the Gender Census. 

None was the third least popular checkbox in the Gender Census in 2023, 2024, and 2025. 

 

This graph includes fewer terms so the remaining lines can be more easily seen. 

None Pairing Analysis

1,958 people selected, “none / I do not describe myself” in the 2025 Gender Census.

That represents for 4.5% of total respondents. 

62% of respondents who selected “none” also selected, “a person / human / [my name] / ‘I’m just me.’” 

This checkbox is abbreviated as (Person) in the table below. 

Therefore, a majority of respondents who selected “none” also chose, “a person…”

Respondents who chose “none” were significantly more likely to select, “a person…” than Gender Census respondents as a whole.
 

 

 

None, Cisgender, and Binary were the only terms in the 2025 Gender Census that did not have a majority of respondents who identified as Nonbinary.

None and Cisgender were the only terms in the 2025 Gender Census that didn’t have a majority of respondents who identified as Queer.

Both of the statements above are true for the 2024 Gender Census as well.

We’ll examine these exceptions more closely in the next article in this series, which will focus on Cisgender and Binary.

None and Bigender

Bigender and None have generally been chosen by a similar percentage of respondents in the Gender Census.

Let’s examine the years when both appeared as options in the survey.

Excluding the outlier of 2022, None outperformed Bigender five times in the Gender Census.

None outperformed Bigender in 2016, and every year from 2018 to 2021.



Bigender outperformed None twice in the Gender Census.

Bigender outperformed None in 2017 and 2024.



From 2015 to 2025, None’s average is 4.9%, and Bigender’s average is 4.7, if you exclude None’s outlier in 2022.

Conclusion

“None” is one of the least commonly selected options in the Gender Census.

It was the third least popular checkbox in 2023, 2024, and 2025. 

The temporary addition of “I’m just me” spiked the popularity of “none” in the 2022 Gender Census.

Excluding the outlier of 2022, “none” has never received more than 10% in the Gender Census.

 

A majority of respondents who selected “None” in the 2025 Gender Census also selected, “a person…”

Respondents who selected “None” were significantly more likely to select “a person…” than Gender Census respondents as a whole.

None, Cisgender, and Binary were the only terms in the 2025 Gender Census that didn't have a majority of respondents who identified as Nonbinary.

None and Cisgender were the only terms in the 2025 Gender Census that didn’t have a majority of respondents who identified as Queer.



Excluding the outlier of 2022, None outperformed Bigender five times in the Gender Census, and Bigender outperformed None twice in the Gender Census.



 

 

This article is part of Season 3 of LGBT by the Numbers.

My most recent articles examine how questioning and autigender have performed in the Gender Census, an annual global online survey of people with a gender that isn’t exclusively male or female.

My next article will examine the least commonly chosen options in the survey, cisgender and binary.



So join me next time as we continue to explore LGBT identity, by the numbers.