{"chart":{"title":"Third gender legally recognized","subtitle":"Another gender alongside \"man\" and \"woman\" is recognized by law.","citation":"Velasco (2026)","originalChartUrl":"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/third-gender-legally-recognized","selection":["United Arab Emirates","Zambia","Afghanistan","Cape Verde"]},"columns":{"Legal recognition of a third gender":{"titleShort":"Legal recognition of a third gender","titleLong":"Legal recognition of a third gender","descriptionShort":"Whether a third gender marker or non-binary category is legally recognized on official identity documents.","descriptionKey":"- This data comes from the LGBTI National Policy Dataset, compiled by Kristopher Velasco at Princeton University. It tracks the adoption, scope, and enforcement of 27 LGBTI-related policies across 195 countries, with annual data starting in 1991.\n- The indicator is coded as follows: **_Recognized_** (a third gender marker or non-binary category is legally recognized on official identity documents), **_Varies by region_** (recognition differs between subnational jurisdictions) and **_Not recognized_** (no legal recognition of a third gender marker or non-binary category).\n- The dataset counts policies established by binding legal instruments — statutes, constitutional provisions, decrees and regulations with the force of law, and binding court rulings. Where no law governs a policy, a written rule that does can count too, such as a health-authority guideline, a blood service's donor questionnaire or a religious ruling. Bills, ministerial statements and non-binding declarations are not counted.","descriptionProcessing":"From the original dataset's single-direction proportion (0 = no policy, 1 = fully implemented, intermediate values = partial subnational adoption), we coded countries into three categories: the substantive direction in effect, partial subnational implementation (\"Varies by region\"), or no policy in effect.","shortUnit":"","unit":"","timespan":"1991-2025","type":"Ordinal","owidVariableId":1354614,"shortName":"third_gender_recognition","lastUpdated":"2026-07-15","nextUpdate":"2027-07-15","citationShort":"Velasco (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data","citationLong":"Velasco (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. “Legal recognition of a third gender – Velasco” [dataset]. Velasco, “LGBTI National Policy Dataset 3.0” [original data].","fullMetadata":"https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/1354614.metadata.json"}},"dateDownloaded":"2026-10-31"}