I was reading an article about a current EPA data project to collect information on employees. The Sexual Orientation Gender Identity (SOGI) program now allows employees to specify whether they are “male, female, a blend of both, or neither.”

Up until now, my standard for Gender has been a boolean bit. 1 = Male, 0 = Female and null meaning "Unknown". That is, the Gender has not been provided, rather than a data submission of "gender cannot be determined by subject".

My current thoughts are the database design would be to use the more typical CHAR 1 with a multiple choice. However, the client would then have to be provided a maintenance screen for the dropdown choices. And if some choices were legally reclassified in the future, additional maintenance screens would be required for global updates. This is a much more work in support of a single column.

I am now considering an INT and provide a slider with 0 being fully female and 100 being fully male. But then there is the issue of "unknown" or "neither". There may also be a requirement for a person to provide a response, but is not required to identify their gender.

Any thoughts on what best practices might be going forward?

Lol - the problems of a programmer....

Don't forget about the negitive value of an interger. Seems like that is three states -1, 0, 1 not includiong null.

HL7 standard uses six codes that should cover most options:

• A Ambiguous
• F Female
• M Male
• N Not applicable
• O Other
• U Unknown

Apparently, HL7 hasn't voted on that Ambiguous option yet. But when they do, it may be out of date. Tinder just released their new set of gender options.

• Agender - Genderless or lacking gender. Gender neutral.

• Androgyne - A gender which is simultaneously feminine and masculine, though not necessarily in equal amounts.

• Androgynous - A combination of masculine and feminine characteristics and features.

• Bigender - A gender identity that includes any two gender identities and behaviors.

• Female to Male - A person transitioning from female to male.

• FTM - An abbreviation for “female to male.”

• Gender Fluid - A gender fluid experiences a combin* ation of gender identities.

• Gender Nonconforming - A person who doesn’t follow other people’s ideas or stereotypes associated with a certain gender.

• Gender Questioning - A person who is exploring their gender.

• Gender Variant - A person whose behavior does not exhibit gender norms of the gender they were assigned at birth.

• Genderqueer - A person who does not subscribe to conventional gender distinctions but identifies with neither, both or a combination of male and female genders.

• Male to Female - A person transitioning from male to female.

• MTF - An abbreviation for “male to female.”

• Neither -A person who does not see themselves exclusively as male or female.

• Neutrois - A person who does not identify with being solely male or solely female.

• Non-binary -A person who does not exclusively identify themselves as being masculine or feminine.

• Other - Someone who identifies as another gender.

• Pangender - People who identify as all genders.

• Trans - A person who is transgender or transsexual.

• Trans Man - A female to male gender transition.

• Trans Person - A person who is transgender or transsexual.

• Trans Woman - A male to female gender transition.

• Transfeminine - A person who was assigned male at birth, but identifies more with femininity than masculinity.

• Transgender - A person whose gender identity is different than their assigned sex.

• Transgender Female - A person who has transitioned into being a female.

• Transgender Male - A person who has transitioned into being a male.

• Transgender Man - A person who has transitioned into being a male.

• Transgender Person - A person who has transitioned from the gender they were assigned at birth.

• Transgender Woman - A person who has transitioned into being a female.

• Transmasculine - A person who was assigned female at birth, but identifies more with masculinity than femininity.

• Transsexual - A person who identifies with the gender opposite of which they were assigned at birth.

• Transsexual Female - A person who identifies with the female gender.

• Transsexual Male - A person who identifies with the male gender.

• Transsexual Man - A person who identifies with the male gender.

• Transsexual Person - A person who identifies with the gender opposite of which they were assigned at birth.

• Transsexual Woman - A person who identifies with the female gender.

• Two-Spirit - A spiritual identity based on gender.

According to the Tinder CEO, gender will continue to evolve this update, because "gender is a complex conversation--it's an ongoing dialogue."

And with that, I am now wondering how important it is to capture gender at all. Something for the client to consider.