6 replies to this topic

[lkoehler46]

"Male" and "Female" don't seem to be enough anymore, with flexible gendering, to define sex . I have a female by birth certificate who is self-identifying as male. There is no category beyond "male", "female" and "unknown". What are others doing in similar situations? 

[BevSmallwood]

I just encountered this as well.  I'm not really sure how to handle it.  This person feels mis-gendered and wants to have operations etc. 

 

Do you record the gender they were born with?  The one they feel in their heart?  Or wait until hormones and operations have changed the genitals? 

 

This is too complex for a single letter flag, though that is a start.  

 

It will definitely require a bit more explanation for the family and future generations to understand.

 

I haven't recorded anything yet as I'm the only person in the family who knows about it and this individual isn't ready to have that conversation.

[Renee Zamora]

If they won't be offended to badly I would mark them "Unknown" for now. Then when programs and websites catch up with society you can search for everyone marked "Unknown" and use whatever solution the industry settles on. The issue genealogy software programmers are having is that there is no way to transfer other sex options using the current GEDCOM standard, or through websites APIs.

 

If they are offended then I would simply ask them how they would like you to record it. Then add notes as needed. 

[Dave in New Brunswick]

Everybody gets listed with their BIRTH Name, Date, Place and SEX.  It doesn't matter if a name changes for marriage, or Pen Name Etc.. Birth details remain the same. If a person opts to gender identify differently, it happens well after birth, and does not change that fact.  I am a Celiac.. genetic...yup, others are predisposed to thousands of other things, including gender identity and gays.  Does everyone with a genetic predisposition to something want it as a fact in somebody's Family Tree, I think not. I personally would use a Misc. note and Privitaise it, unless instructed by the individual.

[skadera]

For the very few that think they should have been the other sex, life does not always deal us a hand that we want.  I always wanted to be rich and successful but it wasn't meant to be.  There are but TWO sexes, that's all.  Some people want to be the King or Queen of England, but they're NOT!  There is MALE, or FEMALE.  Whatever the good Lord dealt you at birth is what you are.  Sex is a physical state, not a fad or a dream.

[bdunn]

I agree with leaving these as Unknown. I think it could get very confusing if you start to include some but not others. Here's a list of the more common ones today (below). And the other issue is that many of these people (lots of teens) tend to change their minds over time which may or may not make it to your tree (probably wouldn't). Where does it end? My opinion is that it ends with Male, Female, and Unknown. I don't mean to offend anyone at all, but it seems like this would become extremely difficult to maintain and somewhat political.

 

Here's the list:

 

Heterosexual- The attraction to a gender different from their own (commonly used to describe someone who is gender binary [female or male] attracted to the other binary gender).

Homosexual- The attraction to a gender the same as their own (commonly used to describe someone who is gender binary [female or male] attracted to the same binary gender).  Sometimess referred to as gay.

Lesbian- Women who are attracted only to other women

Bisexual- When you are attracted to two or more genders.  This term is generally used to describe being attracted to men and women, but can apply to being attracted to any two or more genders. Note that you do not have to be equally attracted to each gender.

Pansexual- When you are attracted to all genders and/or do not concern gender when you are attracted towards someone

Bicurious- People who are open to experiment with genders that are not only their own, but do not know if they are open to forming any sort of relationship with multiple genders.

Polysexual- When you are attracted to many genders

Monosexual- Being attracted to only one gender

Allosexual- When you are not asexual (attracted to at least one gender)

Androsexual- Being attracted to masculine gender presentation

Gynosexual- Being attracted to feminine gender presentation

Questioning- People who are debating their own sexuality/gender

Asexual- Not experiencing sexual attraction (note that you can also be aromantic and you do not necessarily have to be asexual and aromantic at the same time).  Sometimes the term, ace, is used to describe asexuals.

Demisexual- When you only experience sexual attraction after forming a strong emotional bond first or a romantic bond

Grey Asexual- When you only experience attraction rarely, on a very low scale, or only under certain circumstances

Perioriented- When your sexual and romantic orientation targets the same gender (for example being heteromantic and heterosexual or being biromantic and bisexual)

Varioriented- When your sexual and romantic orientations do not target the same set of genders (for example being heteromantic and bisexual or being homoromantic and pansexual)

Heteronormative- The belief that hetersexuality is the norm and that sex, gender, sexuality, and gender roles all align

Erasure- Ignoring the existance of genders and sexualities in the middle of the spectrum

Cishet- Someone who is both cisgendered and heterosexual.  This is sometimes used as a slur.

Polyamorous- An umbrella term referring to people who have or are open to have consensually have relationships with multiple people at the same time

Monoamorous- People who have or or open to have relationships with only one other person at a time.  The term, monogamous, is also sometimes used.

Queer- A reclaimed slur for anybody in the LGBT+ community or who do not identify as cisgender and/or hetersexual/heteromantic

Ally- A supporter of the LGBT+ community that does not identify as LGBT+

 

It doesn't end there. You also have to include these statuses if you go down this road. If you don't, you'll be potentially oppressing someone.

 

 

 

Male to Female (MtF)- When somebody that is assigned as a male at birth identifies as a female

Female to Male (FtM)- When somebody that is assigned as a female at birth identifies as a  male

Binary- The genders at each end of the gender spectrum (male and female)

Non-Binary- An umbrella term for genders that fall somewhere in the middle of the gender spectrum and are neither strictly male or female.  This can be used as a gender identification without further explanation.  Sometimes the term, genderqueer, is used.

Genderfluid- Moving between genders or having a fluctuating gender identity

Agender- Not identifying with any gender.  Sometimes referred to as being genderless or gendervoid

Bigender-  Identifying as two genders, commonly (but not exclusively) male and female.  Sometimes you feel like both genders at the same time and sometimes you fluctuate.

Polygender- When you identify with multiple genders at once.  Sometimes referred to as multigender.

Neutrois- When you identify as agender, neither male nor female, and/or genderless

Gender Apathetic- When you really do not identify nor care about any particular gender.  You are fine passing off as whatever and you really do not have an opinion towards your own gender.

Androgyne- This term overlaps a lot between gender identification and presentation.  It can be used to describe others and as an identification.   This term is used to describe people who are neither male nor female or are both male and female.  Basically anyone who does not fit into a binary gender category.

Intergender- Somebody who's gender is somewhere between male and female

Demigender- When you feel as if you are one part a defined gender and one or more parts an undefined gender.  Terms can include demigirl, demiboy, demiagender, ect.

Greygender- Somebody with a weak gender identification of themselves

Aporagender- Somebody with a strong gender identification of themselves that is non-binary

Maverique- A non-binary gender that exists outside of the orthodox social bounds of gender

Novigender- A gender that is super complex and impossible to describe in a single term

Designated gender- A gender assigned at birth based on an individuals sex and/or what gender society percieves a person to be

AFAB- Assigned Female At Birth

AMAB- Assigned Male At Birth

Gender roles- Certain behaviors an activities expected/considered acceptable of people in a particular society based upon their designated gender

Gender Presentation- The gender you present yourself to others.  This is sometimes referred to as gender expression

Transitioning- The process of using medical means to change your sex

Intersex- A biological difference in sex that is when people are born with genitals, gonads, and/or chromosomes that do not match up exactly with male or female.  Intersex individuals can have any romantic/sexual orientation and can have any gender identification.  Intersex individuals are about as common as redheads.

Dyadic- Someone who is not intersex and when their gentinals, gonads, and chromosomes can all match into either a male or female category

Trans Woman- Someone who is assigned as a male at birth, but identifies as a woman

Trans Man- Someone who is assigned as a female at birth, but identifies as a man

Trans Feminine- Someone who identifies as feminine, but identifies as neither a man nor a woman.  They must also be assigned male at birth.

Trans Masculine- Someone who identifies as masculine, but identifies as neither a man nor a woman.  They must also be assigned female at birth.

Social Dysphoria- Discomfort experienced when acting in ways socially different than your gender or being addressed in ways different to your gender

Body Dysphoria- Discomfort experienced because of the difference between gender and your sex, role, or gender expression

Butch- A term used to describe someone who's gender expression is more masculine than feminine.  This is commonly used in describing women or lesbians.

Femme (Fem)- A term used to describe someone who's gender expression is more feminine than masculine.  This is commonly used in describing women or lesbians.

Binarism- Putting gender strictly into two categories (male and female) and refusing to acknowledge genders outside of male and female.

 

Good luck with all that developers. :-)

 

[Dick Horner]

In the world of DNA testing, knowing a person's sex at birth can become important, especially for yDNA and mtDNA testing plus for X-chromosome tracing.  If a person is transgender, then knowing when the sex change occurred may become important.  Personally, I think that sex should be what they were born with and "facts" should be used for tracking sexual preference and transgender changes.