Abstract

In this paper, we explore the role of Slovenian in constituting non-normative genders. The poststructuralist turn in sociolinguistics brought with it new theoretical frameworks that questioned existing assumptions about seemingly natural social categories. Drawing on the perspective of queer linguistics that presents a fundamental challenge to the assumption that binary systems for categorizing gender and sexuality are natural, universal, and indisputable, we explore the extent to which grammatical gender both constrains and facilitates the realization of transgender and non-binary identities among speakers of Slovenian. In order to perform their non-normative genders, non-binary individuals use linguistic practices, such as the underscore, inverse gender markers, or blending feminine and masculine grammatical forms. Their social actions are both interposed by the social structure and can also lead to changes in it by decentring binary genders.1.