Question
What is the difference between assigned sex and gender identity?
Answer
Assigned sex refers to the classification of a person as male or female at birth based on physical characteristics, typically external genitalia, observed by medical professionals. This classification is recorded on legal documents such as a birth certificate and traditionally operates within a binary framework, although some jurisdictions now allow more flexibility, such as an "X" marker.
In contrast, gender identity encompasses a person’s deeply felt sense of their own gender, which may or may not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender identity develops over time and can include considerations of how a person experiences their body, emotions, and social role, which are influenced by a combination of biological, cultural, and individual factors. For instance, a person whose gender identity aligns with their assigned sex at birth is referred to as cisgender.
This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, Special Considerations When Working with LGBTQ+ Identified People, presented by Valerie Velarde, PsyD
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