Return to Blog Homepage

2018: The Year LSAC Woke Up

BPPaaron-lsat-blog-gender-indentity-options
… and made a question with over 4000 answer choices.

Things have been changing on the LSAT lately. First, last year, LSAC removed the limit on how many times you can take the test. This year, they expanded the number of test dates. As of last week or so, you can finally indicate the nonbinary gender of your choice when you register for an LSAC account. It’s 2018, so it’s about time LSAC got with the program and gave people more options than just male and female.

But I don’t think anyone expected just how whole-heartedly LSAC would dive into this. There are now 13 — yes, 13 — boxes you can check to indicate your gender identity. You can check any combination of these 13 boxes. Let’s run through your options, and then we’ll do some math.

You can indicate that you’re agender, or in other words “genderless, or gender neutral.” You can be androgyne, which means you have a gender that’s “simultaneously feminine and masculine, although not necessarily in equal amounts.”

You have the option to identify as demigender, which means you identify partially but not completely with a gender. Maybe those options are a bit too precise, and you prefer to identify as genderqueer or gender fluid. There’s a box that covers that option, too.

You can identify as a man or a woman, and under each category you have the option to add whether or not you’re transgender. But you don’t have to answer the trans question; if you’d like to just be a man or woman and leave them guessing whether or not you’re trans, that’s your prerogative too.

Finally, if you’re questioning or unsure, the LSAC won’t try to pin you down on one option; there’s a box for you, too. If none of the above options apply to you, there’s a box you can check with a text box to add your own description of your gender. And if you’d prefer not to say, there’s a box for that, too.

You can check as many or as few of these boxes as you like. Let’s assume that you wouldn’t check the box saying you prefer not to answer and also check other boxes. That leaves 12 boxes to check, or not. That’s 2^12 or 4096 possible gender identities. Well, since one of the boxes is there for you to add whatever you want, really the options are infinite.

Some of those options might not seem to make sense — say, for example, simultaneously identifying as agender and gendered. But if, for some reason, that’s you, the LSAC won’t stop you. Welcome to 2018, LSAC.