Third Gender: Meaning, Identity, Culture, and Legal Recognition

A person may identify as third gender because that term best describes their personal experience. In some cultures, third gender also refers to a recognized community with its own history and traditions.

Simple examples include:

• A third-gender person may identify as neither a man nor a woman.
• Another person may use third gender as an official legal category.
• A third-gender identity does not reveal someone’s anatomy.
• A person may be legally listed as third gender but prefer another identity term.
• Respecting a third-gender person includes using their chosen name and pronouns.

The term describes gender, not sexual orientation. A third-gender person may be attracted to people of any gender or may experience little or no sexual attraction.

• a third gender;
• recognition of a third gender;
• several culturally recognized third genders;
• the concept of third gender.

When used before another noun, it is usually hyphenated:

• a third-gender person;
• a third-gender category;
• third-gender recognition;
• third-gender communities.

Use third gender without a hyphen when it functions as a noun:

• The form includes a third gender.
• They identify as third gender.

Use third-gender with a hyphen before a noun:

• The organization supports third-gender people.

Common Usage Patterns

The phrase commonly appears in expressions such as:

• identify as third gender;
• third-gender identity;
• third-gender community;
• third-gender recognition;
• third-gender rights;
• third-gender category;
• legally recognized third gender;
• traditional third-gender role.

The term should not be applied automatically to every transgender, nonbinary, intersex, or gender-nonconforming person.

Third gender challenges or expands this two-category system by recognizing that some people or cultures understand gender differently.

A third-gender identity may be:

• outside manhood and womanhood;
• between male and female categories;
• connected to both;
• culturally distinct from both;
• understood as a separate social role.

Not every person outside the binary uses the term third gender. Some prefer nonbinary, genderqueer, agender, genderfluid, transgender, or another identity.

Third gender and nonbinary may overlap, but they are not always interchangeable.

For some people:

• nonbinary describes a broad personal identity;
• third gender describes a separate gender category;
• both terms feel accurate;
• only one term feels appropriate;
• third gender has a specific cultural or legal meaning.

A nonbinary person should not automatically be called third gender. Similarly, a third-gender person may not use the word nonbinary.

Many third-gender people may also consider themselves transgender. Others may see third gender as a separate cultural or personal identity rather than part of the transgender category.

A third-gender person may:

• socially transition;
• change their name or pronouns;
• use hormones;
• have gender-affirming surgery;
• make no medical changes;
• use different identity terms in different settings.

Medical transition is not required for third-gender identity.

Hijra people are sometimes officially or publicly described as third gender. However, hijra and third gender are not exact synonyms.

Compare:

• Third gender is a broad category used in many cultural and legal contexts.
• Hijra refers to a distinct South Asian identity, history, and community.
• A hijra person may identify as third gender, female, transgender, nonbinary, or simply hijra.
• A third-gender person is not automatically hijra.

Using only the phrase third gender may sometimes overlook the cultural meaning of hijra identity.

Third gender describes gender identity, cultural status, or legal classification. Intersex describes physical sex characteristics.

Some intersex people may identify as third gender, but many identify as women, men, nonbinary people, or another gender. Most third-gender people are not necessarily intersex.

Anatomy should not be used to assign a third-gender identity without the person’s consent.

Depending on the community, a third-gender role may involve:

• a distinct identity name;
• traditional clothing or expression;
• ceremonial responsibilities;
• spiritual or religious meaning;
• chosen-family structures;
• community leadership;
• specific social expectations.

These identities should not all be treated as versions of one universal Western category. Each cultural term has its own history and meaning.

A culturally specific identity should be named accurately when the person or community uses that term.

Legal categories may use labels such as:

• third gender;
• X;
• other;
• unspecified;
• nonbinary;
• diverse.

These labels do not always mean the same thing.

Legal recognition may help some people obtain documents that better match their identity. However, being assigned or permitted a third-gender marker does not guarantee safety, equality, healthcare access, employment, education, or social acceptance.

A person’s legal marker may also differ from the identity term they use in daily life.

Gender expression is how someone communicates gender through clothing, hairstyle, voice, behavior, or appearance.

A third-gender person may appear:

• masculine;
• feminine;
• androgynous;
• neutral;
• different from day to day;
• similar to conventional expectations for their assigned sex.

Appearance does not prove third-gender identity. A person does not need to dress in a particular way to be recognized or respected.

• they/them;
• she/her;
• he/him;
• mixed pronoun sets;
• culturally specific pronouns or forms of address;
• no English pronoun preference.

There is no universal third-gender pronoun.

Respectful communication includes:

• using the person’s chosen name;
• asking which pronouns they use;
• not assuming anatomy;
• not demanding proof of identity;
• avoiding jokes or stereotypes;
• respecting privacy;
• using a culturally specific identity term when requested.

A person should not be publicly identified as third gender without permission.

A third-gender person may be:

• heterosexual;
• gay;
• lesbian;
• bisexual;
• pansexual;
• asexual;
• queer;
• another orientation.

They may form romantic relationships, sexual relationships, marriages, chosen families, or no partnership at all.

A third-gender identity does not reveal sexual behavior, fertility, preferred relationship roles, or interest in medical transition.

Every nonbinary person is third gender.
Some nonbinary people use the term, while many prefer another identity.

Third gender and hijra mean exactly the same thing.
Hijra is a culturally specific South Asian identity that may overlap with third-gender recognition.

A third-gender person must look androgynous.
Gender expression does not determine identity.

Third gender describes sexual orientation.
It describes gender, not whom someone finds attractive.

Every culture has the same third gender.
Cultural identities have different histories, meanings, and community traditions.

1. Third gender describes a gender category outside exclusively male and female classifications.
2. The form allowed applicants to select third gender as a legal category.
3. Can a third-gender person also identify as transgender?
4. A third-gender identity does not reveal someone’s sexual orientation.
5. The third-gender activist spoke about equal access to employment.
6. Some cultures recognize a distinct third gender with a long social history.
7. A person may be legally classified as third gender but use another identity term.
8. Being third gender does not require surgery or hormone therapy.
9. Respecting a third-gender person includes using their chosen name and pronouns.
10. The term third gender should not replace a culturally specific identity without permission.

Third-gender people may have diverse bodies, partners, sexual interests, fertility experiences, and relationship goals. Their identity does not establish any particular anatomy, behavior, pronouns, or medical history.

Respectful sexuality education separates gender from anatomy and attraction, recognizes culturally specific identities, avoids stereotypes, and supports each person’s right to consent, privacy, healthcare, relationships, dignity, and self-definition.