The asterisk means:
There is more than one ending to a word.
Many people believe:
There are only women.
There are only men.
But there are many more genders.
This is called gender diversity.
Some bodies do not fit into the distinction men-body and women-body.
For example:
Maybe a body has round breasts.
And narrow shoulders.
And a vulva.
And testicles as internal organs.
This body has ambiguous characteristics.
These people call themselves inter*.
They were born that way.
Inter* also has a star.
Because inter* has several word endings.
For example
- inter-gender
- inter-sex
Inter* people have very different bodies.
Binary means there are two genders:
Woman and Man.
But there are more genders:
Some people are woman and man at the same time.
Or they have another gender.
Or they have no gender.
These people call themselves non-binary.
A person is born a woman and lives as a man.
Or a person is born as a man and lives as a woman.
Or a person does not live as a woman and does not live as a man.
Or a person lives as a woman and as a man.