Third Gender

A category of people whose gender doesn't fit within the limiting and inaccurate notion of a gender binary within a particular culture. “Third gender” is used to describe some people whose gender identity is different than the sex they were assigned at birth (e.g. non-binary, intersex, bigender, agender, hijra, metis). Some countries officially recognize a “third gender” on legal documents (e.g., an “X” gender or sex marker in lieu of the typical “F” or “M”). Note: Some societies widely recognize fourth, fifth, and more genders. Because gender is a spectrum, there are actually infinite genders. The term “third gender” is not used in everyday life by the communities that are labeled as such. The term mostly originates from the antiquated, academic notion that only three genders exist (i.e., woman, man, “other”), and therefore can be offensive and even invalidate someone’s gender identity.