Neutral or non-binary gender option ?

[JLSala]

How do you update Reunion when you find out a person is changing their gender? A relative is going from a girl name to a boy name. They refer to their old name as a dead name. Dead name is the terminology used to refer to the name used before a gender transition. Can Reunion handle a neutral or non-binary gender option ?

[JLSala]

I think the proper wording should have been transitioning when gender is changing for an individual. I would suppose that is not really neutral or non-binary but a transition to the opposite gender. You would think Reunion needs a tracking method or audit trail to handle these transitions as they could even change again afterwards.

[KarenCalifornian]

I have decided to always use a person’s assigned birth name and assigned birth gender as the base information for that person. Then, I use an “AKA” fact type to record a name change. I have also added a “Gender Identity” fact type.

Alternatively, you could use their new name and their trans gender in the “Edit Person” screen. Then you could add fact types of “Assigned Name” and “Assigned Gender,” which would be the information recorded at their birth.

Other fact type labels that may be useful are "Gender Modality" and “Gender Pronouns.” I have steered away from using the word “preferred” in my labels—such as the term “Preferred Pronouns”—because for most people pronouns are not a matter of preference but a statement of fact.

Next, I create a source citing “Personal Knowledge” to explain how I received the name and/or gender information. Then I attach the source to the appropriate fact type.

I have turned off the “Color buttons by sex” in the Family View Settings under the Miscellaneous tab, under the subheading “Button color mode,” and then have made all of my buttons a tan color. Also in the Family View Settings, under the Couple tab, in the “Inside the Couple Buttons” section, I have added the “AKA” fact type so it is easy to see when looking at a person’s Family View screen. You could also add other fact types mentioned above.

My knowledge and procedures regarding gender and genealogy record keeping are evolving and I would also be interested to know how other people are recording information in their databases.

[JLSala]

Very good detailed response, thank you. I have decided to use the new name/gender in the Edit person screen and added fact types of "Birth name", "Birth gender" "Gender" and "Gender pronouns". The new name shows a superscript #4 that I believe indicates 4 facts are attached?

[BRC2023]

Thanks for raising this and for your strategies. This is definitely an issue in my family. I plan to defer to the wishes of people who have expressed strong opinions about having their preferred names and pronouns used in the genealogy reports, charts or books. I'll record the info that was assigned at birth as well.

[KarenCalifornian]

The new name shows a superscript #4 that I believe indicates 4 facts are attached?

I believe the superscript number is the source number of the source attached to the person in "Edit Person" screen in either the "Source Citation: Names" or "General Source Citations" sections.

[KarenCalifornian]

I plan to defer to the wishes of people who have expressed strong opinions about having their preferred names and pronouns used in the genealogy reports, charts or books.

Thank you for your thoughtful response. I think this is a good plan and I may move in that direction in the future if the need arises. Currently I don't have anyone in my family interested in reports, charts, or books so I haven't had to think about this issue. And the people in my family this would apply to have said they do not have strong opinions on their previous names. Of course this could change in the future and I believe respecting a person's wishes is a considerate course of action. It would be great if we could indicate a specific name to use in reports and other publications.

[JLSala]

You are correct about the superscript, it is referring to the number of the source.