Words have gender; people have sex

[BellaBear]

Ahem.

It's possible that I could have phrased that better.

But is that right? I think it is.

Gender can be grammatical, of course. It can also, says Collins, be used to describe the whole of a sex (ie men are the male gender). But an easier way to think of it is that sex is biological, and gender is social (hence the concept of lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender, or LGBT). Encycopaedia Britannica says gender is "an individual's self-conception as being male or female, as distinguished from actual biological sex."

so, on a form for instance, it should ask for your sex rather than your gender?

Depends on the form. Entry form for the Olympics should ask genetic sex. But in a wider context it is more sensitive to ask someone's gender because that gives a pre-operation transgender woman the option of putting female even though she still has male reproductive organs.

v interesting

I have two transgender friends and life is hard enough for them without people assuming that just because they have penises, their brains are male too. Definitely better to ask gender.