The ‘A’ in LGBTQIA+ stands for a few identities, including asexual, aromantic and agender. The term agender is used in different ways by people: some identify with no particular gender, others define themselves as gender-neutral, while others still completely reject the concept of gender or find it to be irrelevant to their lived experience. 

Most agender people feel that their identity resides outside the binary gender spectrum. While many agender people use they/them pronouns, it is always best to ask than to assume. Agender individuals can also have any type of gender expression, and while some of them consider themselves to be under the trans umbrella, others don’t.

The visibility of the agender community became more widespread with the creation of the dedicated Pride flag, which was developed by Tumblr user Salem X in 2014, and it is still used today by those in the community. Salem X described the agender identity as “a sort of gender atheism, or lack of belief in gender”.

They said the black and white sections of the flag “represent an absence of gender, the grey represents semi-genderlessness, and the central green stripe represents nonbinary genders”. They further explained the green stripe, saying, “I inverted it because genderlessness is not the same experience as those who identify as being between the male/female spectrum.”

Currently, most countries do not legally recognise agender identities. The first agender person to be legally recognised by a government was in Portland, Oregon, in 2017.

However, this does not mean that the expression of genderlessness has only been around since then. Many cultures worldwide, especially outside of Western cultures, have celebrated a third or genderless identity. Examples of such identities were found in the history of certain Native American, Polynesian, and Aboriginal cultures and many more.

May 19 marks Agender Pride Day worldwide, an occasion to raise awareness and increase visibility for this identity. 2026 marks the 9th celebration of the event, with the first Agender Pride march taking place in Oregon, US, on May 19, 2017.

The march took place in response to the community feeling that agender people did not receive enough recognition compared to other members of the non-binary and trans umbrella.

The day now aims to raise awareness about the unique issues faced by members of the agender community, celebrating people who are part of it, and educating others on the agender identity as a whole.