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Gender Identity
Also written: Gender identity
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At a glance
Source-by-source
“Only refer to an individual's gender if it's pertinent to a story. Seek permission from sources when publishing details about gender if doing so could result in repercussions for that person.”
GCJT defines gender identity as how people feel about and present their gender, which may align with or differ from sex assigned at birth, and pairs the definition with two trauma-informed rules: mention gender only when pertinent, and seek consent before publishing gender details that could put a source at risk.
“A person's psychological sense of their gender. … Gender identity applies to all individuals and is not a characteristic of only transgender or nonbinary individuals. Gender identity is distinct from sexual orientation…”
APA defines gender identity as a person's psychological, deeply felt sense of their own gender, and stresses two boundaries: it applies to everyone, not only transgender or nonbinary people, and it is distinct from sexual orientation — the two must not be conflated. Identities may or may not correspond to sex assigned at birth.
“One's internal, deeply held sense of one's gender. For transgender people, their own internal gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. … Unlike gender expression, gender identity is not visible to others.”
DSG's distinctive contribution on this page is the visibility line: gender identity is internal and not visible to others, where gender expression is the outward, observable presentation. That's the operational reason the two can't be read off each other — you can see expression, you cannot see identity — which is the error the corpus most often warns against here.
“People become aware of their gender identity at many different stages of life, from as early as 18 months and into adulthood. Gender identity is a separate concept from sexuality and gender expression.”
RET defines gender identity as a deeply held core sense of self in relation to gender that need not correspond to biological sex, and notes awareness can emerge at any life stage. The entry draws the same two boundaries the corpus shares: gender identity is separate from both sexuality and gender expression.
“Gender identity refers to a person's deeply emotional and psychological sense of having a gender and encompasses a wide range of experiences, including being male, female, both or neither. A person's knowledge or understanding of their gender identity may emerge over time.”
NLGJA's 2025 stylebook opens its gender section by separating gender identity from sex: gender is a social and psychological experience of self, distinct from the biological characteristics of sex, and a person's understanding of their gender identity may emerge over time. The section treats self-identification as the governing rule for how people are described.
Synthesis
“Gender identity” is standard, usable vocabulary: a person’s internal, deeply held sense of their own gender. Five sources define it almost identically. APA gives “psychological sense of their gender,” GCJT “how people feel or present themselves,” NLGJA “deeply emotional and psychological sense,” the Diversity Style Guide “internal, deeply held sense of one’s gender,” and Racial Equity Tools “deeply held core sense of self in relation to gender.” All five say gender identity “does not always correspond to” the sex a person was assigned at birth, which is the definitional point for transgender identities. Nonbinary identities are defined by not fitting the man/woman binary.
Two practical cautions recur. First, gender identity is distinct from sexual orientation (who a person is attracted to) and from gender expression (how they present). The corpus keeps these three axes separate, and conflating them is a frequent error. Second, GCJT’s relevance rule: “only refer to an individual’s gender identity” when it actually matters to the story, rather than as gratuitous detail. This page pairs with cisgender, transgender, and pronouns.
Audience notes
- Journalists and editors. Mention a person’s gender identity only when it’s relevant. Keep it distinct from sexual orientation and from gender expression.
- Advocates and internal comms. “Gender identity” is the internal sense of self; pair it with “gender expression” when you mean outward presentation.
Related terms