gender identity

American  

noun

1. a person's inner sense of being male, female, or another gender, usually developed during early childhood as a result of parental rearing practices and societal influences and strengthened during puberty by hormonal changes.

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Sensitive Note

One's gender identity may continue to evolve over time and may diverge from the male/female gender division. See the usage note at gender ¹ .

Example Sentences

The police chief said officers were combing through thousands of the suspect's social media posts, but added that Dorgan's gender identity was "irrelevant to the investigation at this point".

From BBC

It took coming out and years of evaluating my gender identity to uncover the question stirring at the root of my fixation: Do I want Augustus Waters, or do I want to be Augustus Waters?

From Salon

Her review included meetings with staff and users of gender identity services in Northern Ireland.

From BBC

But it wasn’t clear that they would stand in the way of states that chose instead to base participation on gender identity.

From Los Angeles Times

Both also are devout Roman Catholics who objected to their school district’s policy — based on state guidelines — that barred disclosures related to a student’s gender identity.

From Los Angeles Times