The inescapable cage of a man and a woman: Experiences of non-binary people with gender identity (non-)affirmation in the context of a gendered language.

Introduction: Experiencing a lack of identity verification is an issue which most of the transgender community struggles with. Non-binary people's daily struggle for affirmation may be even more difficult in a binary gendered language, which forces speakers to grammatically encode gender distinctions in speech. As such, this study explores such experiences and their impact on non-binary individuals in Italian context. Methods: We explored the experiences of 13 non-binary Italians via semi-structured interviews. Participants were recruited through social media and LGBTQ+ groups in Italy and the UK. Reflexive thematic analysis was adopted to analyze the data. Results: Three main themes were developed: (1) Discussion: These results expand current understanding of the linguistic mechanisms behind non-affirmation and emphasize the importance of having a support network and more accessible gender-neutral Italian for improving mental health and identity affirmation. Furthermore, these findings contribute to our understanding of non-affirmation as not just an act done by other people, but also the inability to express one's gender in a way that is congruent with their inner self-concept.