Default third gender should not be 'Transgender'

CiviCRM supports a flexible range of gender options out of the box. In cases where an organisation wants more flexibility, they can use the amazing Self-Identify extension by @colemanw - however, this may be unneeded or create administrative overhead.

The default configuration of CiviCRM includes three gender options:

• Male
• Female
• Transgender

This is not ideal, as 'transgender' is not a gender - instead it describes someone who's gender differs from their recorded sex at birth. Conflating the two topics leads to confusion and a loss of accurate data.

Obviously this is a very complicated subject, both technically and politically. However, based on recommendations and standards by various LGBTIQ bodies and statistical data departments, I would propose "Other" as a simple, uncontroversial, default third gender option in CiviCRM.

Research by Statistics New Zealand on gender collection standards in various countries shows that while there is no single best option, "Other" is the most common and broad.

This would also be compliant with the Standards for Sex and Gender Variables from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.