Why oh why must I make my gender known?

The option to withhold such information must be made available... the minimum data to complete the task - I would not enter my address or telephone number on such a forum site, why do I need to disclose something such as gender?

A

Aren't you proud of your gender?  If you do not want to provide your sex in your profile as we require for membership here at AVSIM, then I can remove your account.

You're missing the point Jim. What has my being proud of my gender or not got to do with it? Whether I am proud of that or not is definitely nobody else's business.

Why should my gender be a requirement for membership? What does this have to do with my ability to be a member of the site or not? You see, with data protection becoming more and more important (just look at the storm currently over Facebook and Cambridge Analytica as well as the implementation of a new data protection regulation valid in all member states of the EU), sites are increasingly having to question what data they need to process.

Can you explain to me why avsim sees it as a requirement that members state their gender? What happens if, for some hypothetical reason, I do not see myself as fitting into the binary pattern?

As I see it from here, you are entering a legal minefield.

A

We can put anything we want on a public website here in the United States of America.  AVSIM did not make this website.  It was done by a US Corporation that makes websites for millions with all types of features.  Included in their website are certain things asked for members to complete IN ORDER TO BECOME A MEMBER.  If you do not complete this information, you will not become a member.  Simple as that.  This is NOT the EU.  This website is in the United States of America and owned and operated by AVSIM, Inc.  You must comply with United States laws when visiting a US owned website.  The EU has no control whatsoever over the United States of America.  Please do not use the EU  laws and regulations here in the United States and especially at AVSIM, Inc.!!  This thing about not telling anyone who you are or what gender you are or how you were born is confusing and very, very offensive to me. It is also political and offensive to many and will not be allowed to be discussed here on AVSIM.  This topic is locked.