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Lower Merion School District

Off-Canvas

Gender Identity & Biological Sex

The District seeks to ensure that its programs and practices are welcoming to all students regardless of their biological sex, gender identity and/or gender expression. In our policy, we define “gender identity” as a person’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither; most simply: how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One’s gender identity may change over time, or it may remain the same throughout one’s life. It may be the same as the gender one was assigned at birth, or it may be a different gender. The responsibility for determining an individual’s gender identity rests with the individual. By comparison, the term “biological sex” is the biological attributes such as anatomy, chromosomes, and hormones that inform whether a person is male, female, or intersex. Where sex refers to biology, gender refers to the cultural and social understandings that are layered on top of biology.