This parent beautifully explained what it means to be non-binary to their child and it’s heartwarming

The simple way a parent explained what it means to be non-binary to their child has gone viral.

Jay Jackson, from Brighton, wrote on Twitter that a child visiting their workplace had asked Jackson whether they were a boy or a girl.

After Jackson responded they were “neither,” the child’s parent explained more about what being non-binary means.

The tweet read: “Their parent explained that some people are ‘he,’ some are ‘she,’ and others are ‘they’ – the kid replied that they had never thought of that, and the parent said they could think about it more together later.”

Jackson continued: “Parenting done right, I welled up, my coworkers were emotional, it was everything.”

“The parent also said that just because we’re told by other people that we are something doesn’t mean that it’s true.”

More that 41,000 people have retweeted Jackson’s original tweet, which has more than 300,000 likes.

Many social media users praised Jackson and the parent for spreading a message of acceptance.

“The beginning of a open generation,” one person commented.

Another wrote: “While reading this I was so scared that this story was going to turn out bad, but I’m happy it didn’t and that the parent did their job right.”


Jackson and their partner Reuben are raising money via GoFundMe for fertility treatment to try for a child.

“My name is Reuben and my partner Jay and I are trying to raise the necessary funds to make a baby,” the fundraising page reads.

“We are both trans / non-binary trans and don’t have a drop of sperm between us! However, we have found a donor from within the Brighton trans community who has amazingly and kindly offered to help with this.

“I have always wanted to become a parent, and initially believed that I would do this through adoption. However, I realised that due to my circumstances and the difficult nature of the adoption process this option is sadly not available to me.”

They said that as a queer couple they have come across “many barriers” to fertility treatment.

“Most frustratingly, the type of help that we are looking for would be available for us for free if either of us were assigned male at birth and had viable sperm!”