For some people who still don't understand gender identity, specifically identifying as transgender, this twitter thread has a simple explanation.

Twitter user Sam Sandmel (@SamwiseEyes) was responding to an issue with a form asking about gender identity, which asked users to select, "male," "female," or "transgender."

Sandmel asked his Twitter followers the following question:

He offered Coke, Pepsi, and Diet as options.

But "Diet" isn't a brand of soda, right? Exactly.

The "this" refers to the aforementioned form, where people are asked to identify your gender: male, female, or transgender. By using a super simple analogy, Sam's tweets explain why that doesn't make sense.

SamwiseEyes/Twitter - twitter.com

SamwiseEyes/Twitter - twitter.com

The gender identity form likely wasn't meant to cause offense.

It seems as though whomever set the form up didn't quite understand what it means to be transgender. Here's how the National Center for Transgender Equality defines "transgender":

"A term for people whose gender identity, expression or behavior is different from those typically associated with their assigned sex at birth. Transgender is a broad term and is good for non-transgender people to use. 'Trans' is shorthand for 'transgender.' (Note: Transgender is correctly used as an adjective, not a noun, thus "transgender people" is appropriate but "transgenders" is often viewed as disrespectful.)"

A transgender woman may have been born with male anatomy, but they identify as a woman (and same goes for a transgender man born with female anatomy). The better option would have either been an "I identify as [fill in the blank]" or to omit a gender question entirely.