The Future Collection and Display of Member Gender Data

[Dave Thompson]

The RUSA Board has set the direction for the future collection and display of member gender data.

In December 2024 the RUSA board undertook a survey of members as part of a review of RUSA's collection and use of gender data.

Our objectives with the gender project were as follows:

1. Maintain and foster a welcoming environment for all members.
2. Develop a long term solution, as gender coding and display have come before the board many times over the years.
3. Correct what was, in retrospect, an incomplete solution in 2021 when we added Non Binary / Decline to State as an additional gender option. It was a major enhancement but didn’t go far enough and conflated the two.
4. Promote a solution that provides accurate demographics, to the extent possible. That will only result from people recording gender accurately and with assurance that their information is private.

Our main conclusions are to expand the gender options, moving to Man / Woman / Non Binary and Decline to State (M,W,N,D) and drop any gender designation from awards listings on the American Randonneur Magazine as well as online. Gender data will only be available to membership in aggregate demographic reports. Our privacy policy will be updated to reflect these changes.

1) The move to M,W,N,D is a simple change with major impact. The N & D are splitting what we already have with the currently combined N/D category. The feedback from our membership and a look at other organizations indicates that M,W,N,D is more welcoming.

2) We are opting to drop gender from all awards listings.

• We want a long term solution.
• In RUSA's first decades, its publications adopted some ACP conventions for displaying the gender of some riders, for some brevet rosters and award listings. Over the years, the practice was increasingly standardized in the magazine. However, rationale for the practice did not accompany its use (the magazine rarely made reference to the gender code). As a result, the purpose of the practice became less clear over time. Today, RUSA has at its disposal a wider set of communication channels. With our monthly Between Controls publication and social media, we have pictures, videos, and more frequent means of communication, increasing the ability to show the extent of women and non-binary riders participating.
• In one-on-one conversations, group discussions, and through survey feedback, the RUSA Board has come to understand that, while some members appreciate the convention of distinguishing some gender designations in award listings, many find the practice as a barrier to being treated as equals in our sport. Randonneuring in the United States has never divided participation categories by gender, age, experience, etc. The changes we are implementing today bring our awards listing into alignment with this important feature of our sport.
• Members are currently using the N/D category as an ad hoc privacy setting, at the expense of accurate demographics data. That is occurring due to some not wanting to display their F on awards listings or simply because members feel that it’s private information and do not want to draw attention to what they feel is irrelevant in our sport. While we could introduce a separate privacy setting, that would further complicate things.
• After introducing the conflated N/D gender category in 2020, some long-time randonneurs and recent new members have self-selected out of displaying their gender. Any given awards listing might include some women identified as such and some not. The awards listings themselves, meant to be a positive contribution, have become controversial.
• The survey results did not overwhelmingly provide direction.
• The Board decided that the tradeoffs were worth it – usefulness in increasing participation from women and non-binary riders vs the ongoing controversy regarding coding and display and our desire for accurate demographics.

3) Timing - Website privacy enhancements will drive the timeline for implementation. To complete this process, we need to move personal data updates behind a login. Work is already underway. Although not related to gender, some RBA functions are being used as a trial.

4) Survey Results - The numbers tell part of the story but as much or more came from comments and offlist discussions with members.

[Pam Wright]

Thanks Dave,

As a long time Randonneur, I  heartily applaud the changes for members to have better choices for their gender identification. Thank you and long overdue. 

I'm finally flipping through my summer AR and I will very much miss seeing the "F's."  Through my years, I've been a vocal cheerleader of the “F” listing, so I will also mourn members not having the choice to have the F by their name.   I have personally seen how the F has motivated women to join.  With the overall non-Man identifiers  being ~25%, I will miss that visual by my name and the pride it instilled in me. 

Newbie Pam found those F’s especially inspiring and tremendously motivating!  The F encouraged me to keep pushing - encouraged me to reach out to those members for advice - encouraged me to seek out those members at rides and build strong, new relationships - made me so proud to be a part of such a small group of like-minded riders that I admire.

While I fully support members having control over what information they choose to share, I will remain disappointed there is no option for those who want to display their gender.

Though this is not the outcome I supported, I will always be invigorated and excited to see the new personalities, genders, skills, enthusiasm, nationalities, races and backgrounds join our sport.  Here's to seeing more of us, all of us, on the road.  

Pamela Wright 3205

On Aug 21, 2025, at 4:52 AM, Dave Thompson <thomp...@gmail.com> wrote:

The RUSA Board has set the direction for the future collection and display of member gender data.

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