ADR 0039 — Member Gender Field &ZeroWidthSpace;

Status: Accepted
Date: 2026-06-24
Deciders: Kristopher Turner
Supersedes: —
Related: ADR 0032 (extended profile fields), ADR 0038 (RBAC multi-role)

Context &ZeroWidthSpace;

Heritage Virginia communicates with members in ways that reflect biblical fellowship patterns — announcements, meeting invitations, or pastoral messages that are intended specifically for "brothers" (men) or "sisters" (women) in the congregation. Without a gender field, there is no programmatic way to target gendered communications.

This field is also relevant for future features such as gender-specific small groups, prayer circles, or service roles.

Decision &ZeroWidthSpace;

Add a gender field to the User model as a PostgreSQL enum.

Enum values &ZeroWidthSpace;

Value	Meaning
`MALE`	Member self-identifies as male (brother)
`FEMALE`	Member self-identifies as female (sister)
`NOT_SPECIFIED`	Member has not provided a gender (default)

Access model &ZeroWidthSpace;

Operation	Who can do it
Self-set via profile edit	Any authenticated adult member
View in directory / member detail	Admin, minister
Filter or target for comms	Admin, minister
Read own value	Member themselves

Children (PARENT_MANAGED accounts) may also have a gender set — by the parent during child account management.

Wire format &ZeroWidthSpace;

gender is returned as lowercase on the wire: 'male', 'female', 'not_specified'. The field is included in UserProfile and MemberSummary DTOs.

Privacy &ZeroWidthSpace;

Gender is not shown in the public member directory. It is visible to admins and ministers, and to the member themselves on their profile.

Consequences &ZeroWidthSpace;

One new enum type (Gender) and one new column (User.gender) in the database.
UpdateMyProfileBody schema gains an optional gender field.
AdminUpdateUserRequest also gains gender (allows admin to correct on behalf of a child account).
UserProfile DTO gains gender: GenderSlug field.
MemberSummary DTO gains gender: GenderSlug field (for admin use and CSV export).
Profile edit page gains a gender selector (Male / Female / Prefer not to say).
Admin member view gains a gender display field.
Future comms feature can filter recipients by gender = MALE | FEMALE.