2024 - Attitude towards non-binary - Non-binary in Switzerland: How big is the "Nemo effect"?

The musical talent makes non-binary people more visible. But a majority of the population continues to reject a third gender entry.

Tonight – just over a month after winning the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) – Nemo will be celebrated with an official reception in his hometown of Biel. Since Nemo’s ESC victory, the musical talent has been in the headlines. Because of the victory, because of the song, but also because Nemo gives other non-binary people a voice.

“Nemo gave non-binary people a face”

What do people in Switzerland think about trans and non-binary people? A representative survey by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute investigated this question. According to the survey, more people are positive about non-binary people after Nemo’s victory than before the ESC victory.

When asked: “What feelings would the arrival of a trans or non-binary person in your neighborhood trigger in you?”, a good fifth of those surveyed spoke of negative feelings before Nemo’s victory. 13 percent had a positive attitude towards a non-binary or trans person in the neighborhood. The majority were neutral.

Shortly after the ESC victory, the figures were exactly the opposite: 21 percent saw an influx into the neighborhood as positive, 13 percent as negative. Study director Jakub Samochowiec explains it like this: “Many have a relatively one-dimensional image of non-binary people. This also triggers insecurity.” This can manifest itself in negative stereotypes and prejudices. “Nemo made this image three-dimensional and gave non-binary people a face.”

Two weeks before the ESC, the representative survey questioned 3,000 people in German and French-speaking Switzerland about what feelings the arrival of a trans or non-binary person in their neighborhood would trigger in them. One week after the ESC, another 1,000 people from French and German-speaking Switzerland were surveyed.

The survey was conducted as part of a new Social study by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute which will be published in autumn.

The effect in the community

Many who identify as non-binary also feel this: “We have become much more visible, awareness and understanding have increased incredibly,” says Do Graff. Do is 55 years old and is involved with “WeExist”. The collective campaigns for the legal recognition of non-binary people in Switzerland.

Nemo in a white fleece sweater in a crowd, taking a selfie with a dark-haired woman, next to a large camera

Do only dared to come out as non-binary at work at the age of 55, thanks to Nemo’s victory at the ESC. There were reasons why Do waited so long to come out: “I was afraid that I would no longer be seen as the person I am and that my competence would be questioned.” But the reactions were consistently positive.

Caro Colijn, 23, is also involved with “WeExist” and feels the effect of Nemo’s media presence: “Before, non-binaryness was an abstract term. Now it is clearer to many what it is about: not man, not woman, but something in between or next to it.”