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Meet Amy Toon who does not identify as either a male or female.

Amy has been out as a non-binary person for a year - meaning that Amy does not identify as a male or a female.

There are many issues that these people must navigate in their lives - not least of which is a language which many feel does not represent them.

Masculine and feminine pronouns, he and she, can prove a problem for those who identify as neither.

Amy prefers to be described as they/them but others may choose to use ze, hir, hirs, and xe, xem, or xyr.

Amy, a history and politics undergraduate at the University of Liverpool, said: “As soon as I heard the word and looked at the explanation I knew, it just clicked.

“I didn’t feel confused any more. I knew who I was.

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

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“It explained who I was, which was quite comforting after several years of knowing about it.”

Amy explained how being called a girl upsets and hurts them, triggering anxiety and depression.

Amy said: “People can be really transphobic at uni, they make stupid statements and our LGBT posters were torn down.

“I’ve spoken to people who just don’t care, or tell me it doesn’t exist, and they laugh at me. It gets to a point where you can’t be bothered to try to explain, you get exhausted.

“It’s frustrating and it can be quite a knock, people tell me I have no reason to cry over it.”

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Generally, Amy is treated with respect but people still often refer to Amy as a girl, reports the Liverpool Echo.

A key battle for non-binary people is getting different pronouns and options on legal documents – Amy has to sign as female – although some services, like the NHS, have the option of Mx instead of Miss/Mr/Mrs.

Amy wants people to stop assuming gender when they meet a new person as they could potentially cause upset.

Amy said: “People aren’t willing to move forward, and it makes me feel frustrated. A lot of people think gay marriage is enough but I can’t marry as my gender.

“If you want hormone replacement you can wait for up to five years, you have to live for quite a while being very unhappy with who you are.”

Amy is also pansexual, attracted to people of all genders, but says they have had some difficulty in love.

“It has been hard for people to understand, sometimes they insistently call me a girl. I worry about bringing it up because I don’t want to upset people but it upsets me.

“When I do bring it up sometimes people just say ‘oh you’re a girl’. If they can’t respect who I am then, like in any relationship, you don’t want to be with them.”

(Image: Getty/ ilbusca)

Amy claims that being non-binary has a history predating modern times but has become more acknowledged through communities joining together on the internet.

Amy said: “A lack of awareness means people don’t get it. It’s different in every society, but I think a lot of people dismiss it as being created on the internet, saying ‘go back to Tumblr.’

“But different levels of connectivity online have brought people together, giving people who maybe can’t come out a place [to be themselves] instead of having to pretend everywhere.

“I’ve definitely had a negative reception, I get so much online abuse, and some people refuse to accept it.”

Read more:Transgender man pregnant by his female transgender partner as couple admit 'the process to get here was complex'

Amy presents as more feminine, which means on a night out people often mistake them for a girl.

“On a normal night out, because of how I choose to dress and because of how I’m built, people assume I’m a girl but gay town is quite freeing in that you can dress and present how you want.

“In Manchester the other night somebody said ‘why are they letting straight girls in here’ and I just thought ‘I’m neither straight or a girl, so that’s great.”

“The clothes suit me more and clothes have no gender. You wouldn’t tell a woman who wore jeans that you were dress like a man.”

Amy chooses to dress masculine occasionally, admitting a desire for a flatter chest.

However, Amy has not changed their name because they like that it was chosen by their parents and they are used to it, but non-binary people are known to change their names.

Amy said: “Things can take explaining, and I don’t mind doing that as it's complicated, but at the end of the day this is who I am.”

Gender terms:

- Non-binary: anyone who doesn’t fit into the category of male or female

- Pan-sexual: attraction to all genders

- Transgender: denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender

- Gender fluid: people who fluxuate between different genders

- Gender Queer: identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders

- Cisgender: people who agree with the sex they were assigned at birth