Sunday Times - Sex question catapults census into trans war

I don't understand how anyone is allowed to change the sex on their birth certificate. Well, if it was incorrectly recorded it should be changed (mistakes or due to a developmental disorder), but the sex of transgender people would have been correctly recorded.

I actually think we should boycott the census. This renders is meaningless and officially removed woman from the dictionary. I don't think we should collude.

Whatisthisfuckery trans people are able to get the sex on their birth certificate amended so I can see why the sex question is a tricky one and needs a further qualifying question.

The Government Equalities Office has been complicit in creating this mess. It's funny how the GEO knows the difference between pay gap and equal pay, yet they actively conflate sex and gender.
Disappear the sex characteristic, and ultimately the gov can stop measuring and reporting women's equality. Who benefits?

Gender identity should definitely be optional as it's a thing that most people don't choose to have. Everyone has a sex, some people choose a gender identity.

It's ridiculous that the sex question is mandatory but

It is ridiculous that the results of a census will be rendered meaningless by not accurately recording biological sex. It is an indictment of the chilling threat to freedom of speech posed by totalitarian bullies that academics are frightened to identify themselves in the letter.

Hilarious how determined some are to force everyone to have a gender identity whether we want one or not. I don't want any, love, already gave at the office, etc.

It's ridiculous that the sex question is mandatory but the following question asking to confirm whether gender identity matches sex is voluntary. Both should be mandatory to get accurate results. However I imagine transgender people will be happy to volunteer this info.

Pleased to see that sexual orientation is to be recorded for the first time, even if it is voluntary. Always found it strange that it wasn't.

Found the guidance for 2021 census here:

www.ons.gov.uk/census/censustransformationprogramme/questiondevelopment/genderidentity/guidanceforquestionsonsexgenderidentityandsexualorientationforthe2019censusrehearsalforthe2021census#guidance-for-the-gender-identity-question-for-the-2019-rehearsal

Share token for the letter: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/census-fears-over-gender-identity-rmx0gmzxq?shareToken=d4c385449aea2e7a81a3235874daec7a

Archive: archive.ph/ft9mV

In England, Wales and Scotland, the census WILL carry a new, separate (voluntary) question on gender identity.

We've written quite a bit about development of plans for the census. You can see the guidance each census authority is proposing here:

murrayblackburnmackenzie.org/2019/12/10/draft-guidance-under-consideration-for-2021-census-sex-question-summary-of-proposals/

Wouldn’t this be a perfect opportunity to measure just how many transpeople there are in the UK, how they identify and what sex they are. All they need to do is to have two questions,

1, what sex are you according to your birth certificate?

2, What if any gender identity do you consider yourself to have?

Bingo!

Thank you for the share token Empress.
Thank goodness. Very relieved to see this. It is really important that this issue is dealt with properly. Service provision and all kinds of important policy is based on the census. Gender is not sex. Never has been.
It’s also appalling how many people have to sign this letter anonymously due to fear of aggressive call out reprisals or worse.

You'd think the trans community would welcome a chance to accurately record the number of trans people in England and Wales. I'm sure it would help with their lobbying.

If they absolutely must collect data on gender identity then the way to do it would be to add a box that people can write whatever they want in that can and will be left blank by the vast majority of the population.

Surely the point of a census is to allow forward planning.

Government needs to know how many potential ovarian or prostate diseases to plan for. Nothing to do with thoughts and feelings.

Ffs. There needs to be an identity as trans box to tick if this is the case. This way correct data can be extrapolated and society, including trans identity even if self Id can be tracked.

I think putting gender critical as a religion is an excellent idea.

Being gender critical is the opposite of religious thinking, though.

Believing some magical essence of yourself can somehow be incorrectly decanted into the wrong body, and that some people can see or sense that wrongness, and then utilise untested and possibly dangerous medical procedures to fix that wrongness? Perhaps that should be classified as a religion on the census eh.

kittens

I thought the whole point of the census is for accurate data collection for planning resources and for studying population trends.

"There certainly do seem to be a lot of non binary demi-girls. Best increase public spending on subsidized rainbow thigh high socks."

Oh FGS this is getting even more ridiculous. I thought the whole point of the census is for accurate data collection for planning resources and for studying population trends.

The Office for National Statistics, which runs the census, said it would be “continuing to ask the binary choice male/female sex question. This approach is unchanged since 1801.” Its guidance says the answer you give can be different from that on your birth certificate.

Of course the male female sex question is binary. Sex IS binary.

But what about people who feel themselves to be non binary? Will there be an 'other' option for them? If not, why not? And if there is, what use will the data be if EVERYONE declares they are 'other'?

I despair.

If you're a fan of the art of headline writing that one implies all kinds of things that will make TRAs rage. All of which are accurate.

The chilling climate that is suffocating freedom of speech and thought in academia needs to be urgently addressed by the government.

If the Conservative party still has any underlying principles, it should be addressing this as a top priority.

So essentially Parliament, ie Boris, will have to deal with this soon into the New Year....

A hook for letter writing to new MPs? FPfW? WPUK?

Share token for the letter

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/census-fears-over-gender-identity-rmx0gmzxq?shareToken

Can we put Gender Critical as a religion and claim a hate crime when we inevitably get attacked for this view?

The census becomes a historical record, so that might be an interesting little piece of info to come across if our descendants were to view it in 2121(2122?)