I know NHS forms have been discussed previously but this feels really problematic to me.
I'm trying to book my DD in for a specialist sexual health clinic for people with SEN and the NHS referral form asks for sex AND gender separately.
So to get an appointment she either has to agree that she has an innate female gender which is separate from her biological sex, or she has say 'other'.
If it were a form for me, I would have no qualms in writing 'other' as I'm happy to explain that I don't identify with any gender. However, if I do that for her, the NHS worker she ends up seeing is likely to read it as some sign she is trans and she won't be able to advocate for herself (she is autistic and has learning difficulties).
So we're basically being railroaded into agreeing that she 'feels' innately female in order to get her appropriate healthcare.
As a lesser issue, the question asking for her biological sex doesn't actually ask for that. It asks what sex category she was assigned at birth. This is a form for people with SEN and there is so much that my DD would have to understand about the current climate to even begin to answer such a question as she sees everything in black and white and obviously knows her biological sex - I wonder how many other young people with SEN have difficulties just getting through the mental gymnastics on the first page of the referral form.
I can foresee that if my DD turned up to the appointment alone, the problems with our writing 'other' would be compounded by the fact she dresses in trousers and stereotypically 'male' clothes (because she likes to and is comfortable that way). She also doesn't talk much so isn't able to advocate for herself or correct anyone who makes incorrect assumptions about her.
My DD luckily has me to help her navigate this madness, but I do wonder how many other young people with SEN (who perhaps need to go to a sexual health clinic on their own because of religious/strict parents, non-English-speaking parents, being in care, etc) are being misdiagnosed as having 'gender issues' because of mindless forms like this.