Sex vs gender – IDAHOBIT 2025

Every 17 May is IDAHOBIT – an occasion for all people to celebrate the progress we have made while also raising awareness for the discrimination, violence, and challenges that LGBTIQA+ people still face today.

In particular, trans and gender-diverse (TGD) people may have distinct healthcare and other support needs. Health services that have information about both a patient’s assigned sex at birth and their gender will generally be in a better position to provide clinically appropriate and inclusive healthcare to TGD people.

Collecting and reporting a patient’s sex and gender

Sex and gender are not the same. Some people have a different sex or gender than what was assigned to them at birth or a gender that sits outside of the spectrum of male and female. It is important that TGD people can accurately inform health services of their sex and gender in a safe and inclusive way.

About the importance of understanding the sex and gender of TGD patients, A/Prof Ronnie Ptasznik, Program Director of Imaging, says, ‘gender affirming surgeries do not remove underlying risks.’

‘For example, following gender affirming surgery, trans-women might still have prostates, and their risk of prostate cancer remains. Relevant clinicians need to know that they have a prostate.

‘Similar concerns may apply to malignancies of the uterus and ovaries and there might be radiation risks associated with pregnancies.’

Want to learn more?

You can learn more about sex and gender data collection for clinical contexts in a 2023 research paper in imaging, which includes co-authorship by our colleagues:

• Dr Mohamed Badawy, Chief Physicist and Radiation Safety Officer, Imaging
• Kristy Grossman, Client Relationship Manager, Imaging
• Dr Riki Lane, Administrative Officer, Gender Clinic
• Dr David Colón-Cabrera, Research and Project Officer and Administrative Team Leader, Gender Clinic

You can also check out the following resources:

• Monash Health Gender Clinic
• LGBTIQA+ inclusive language guide
• Rainbow Health Australia – their website includes research, demographic information and positive stories of healthcare for LGBTIQA+ (specifically TGD) people.
• Research Matters: Trans and gender diverse health and wellbeing – a fact sheet by Rainbow Health Victoria
• Why inclusive language matters as a manager
• Inclusive collection and reporting of sex and gender data
• Reporting Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices
• IDAHOBIT from Minus18
• may17.org from ILGA World