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.
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.
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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.
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Genderfluid is the most common term, followed by genderflux, and bigender.
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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.
@2x.jpeg)
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.
@2x.jpeg)
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.
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.
@2x.jpeg)
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.
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 that 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.
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, a majority 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.
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