Collecting the 'Gender' Data Element
In this article
General data collection instructions
Please refer to the MN HMIS Data Standards Guide for detailed guidance.
- Clients may select as many responses to the Gender field as they would like to, with up to a total of five options possible for a client's preferred identity, need or situation.
- Never use observations to determine the client’s gender. Always ask the client and record the client’s self-reported gender(s).
- Gender does not need to match legal documents.
- In the event that a client discloses being transgender, staff should ask the client if they would like to have their transgender status recorded in the system or not.
- An individual who identifies as a transgender man should be offered the option of selecting “male” only, "transgender" only, or “transgender" and "male.”
- An individual who identifies as a transgender woman should be offered the option of selecting “female” only, "transgender" only, or “transgender" and "female.”
Available responses:
- Woman (Girl, if Child): Client identifies as a woman, or girl in the case of a child under the age of 18.
- Man (Boy, if child): Client identifies as a man, or boy in the case of a child under the age of 18.
- Culturally specific Identity (e.g., Two-Spirit): Client identifies with an identity that is exclusive to a particular culture. For example, Two-Sprit refers to a Native North American gender identity.
- Transgender: Clients who live or identify with a transgender history, experience or identity.
- Non-Binary: Client does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman.
- Questioning: Clients who may be unsure, may be exploring, or may not relate to or identify with a gender identity at this time. Note that 'Client doesn’t know' is different than 'Questioning'. 'Questioning' is about exploring one’s gender identity. “'Client doesn’t know' should only be selected when a client does not know their gender from the five options available.
- Different Identity: Client identifies with another identity that is not listed as a response. A text box is provided for additional detail.
- Client doesn’t know: Use only when the client does not know their gender. It should not be used interchangeably with the response option 'Questioning.'
- Client prefers not to answer: Use only when the client refuses to identify their gender.
- Data not collected: Use only when the client was not asked for their gender and there is no reasonable way to contact the client to determine their gender.
- If Different Identity, Please Specify: For all clients that selected "Different Identity", please specify the identity in this text box.
Display in HMIS
The overall view of the Gender field is now a multi-select picklist field instead of a dropdown. In any area where you could select a value for Gender, this dropdown is now a picklist window. To select multiple values, hold down the "ctrl" or "cmd" key and click on each value:
Data Entry
Conditional logic is applied once selections are made:
- To make multiple selections, hold the Control (Ctrl) key and left-click each value as necessary. It will display as a blue highlight.
- Once saved, it will display with a grey highlight.
- To clear selections, use the Clear All button under the Gender picklist box. Left-clicking the picklist value again with the Ctrl key can also deselect the value.
- Client doesn’t know, Client prefers not to answer, and Data not collected are explanations for missing client data and not Gender responses. If one of these three picklist values are chosen, then the other possible picklist values are disabled. Choosing one of Client doesn’t know, Client prefers not to answer, or Data not collected makes all other options greyed out.
- If you click on the Gender field and change any of the values, even if you don't click on Save, the value may be overwritten. Clicking the Clear All button may overwrite previously saved Gender responses, so be careful with that button and don't exit out of the client record without confirming the correct value(s) for Gender are selected in the picklist field.