2021 Census - sex not gender

[TheWordWomanIsTaken]

Just seen this on twitter. Sorry do not have share token.
Sanity prevails I hope.
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sex-question-back-on-census-in-blow-to-trans-rights-r75fq5lgc

Stumblein - If a census did not ask a supplemental question around gender identity (whether people believe in that concept or not) in addition to sex I'd personally have been quite surprised if many trans people would have recorded their sex at birth. After all irrespective of biological reality, when people fill out forms of this nature they generally do so in line with a way that they see themselves and ironically as such are self identifying in a way. Asking both is a good option and could give somewhere near accurate data with regards to the amount of trans people in the country in addition to data that is useful to inform the provision of services for women. In my opinion the story in the Times could quite easily mislead the casual passer by to read that the so called 'trans lobby' had been stopped from having the category of sex removed from it. To be honest, I'm sure that wa probably the intention and I wouldn't have expected any different from The Times. Personally, I have never filled one in and don't intend to start next year. I don't imagine I am alone in that, it's the beauty of democracy.

In my opinion the story in the Times could quite easily mislead the casual passer by to read that the so called 'trans lobby' had been stopped from having the category of sex removed from it.

That’s what some were campaigning for.

Personally, I have never filled one in and don't intend to start next year. I don't imagine I am alone in that, it's the beauty of democracy.

You realise the UK census is compulsory don’t you? If you’ve never filled one in someone in your household probably did it for you or you’ve been lucky to escape a fine.

In my opinion the story in the Times could quite easily mislead the casual passer by to read that the so called 'trans lobby' had been stopped from having the category of sex removed from it.

That is exactly what the lobby (Stonewall and others) tried to do. They wanted sex to mean self-identified gender. Some went so far as to 'de-platform' Alice Sullivan - Nancy Kelley herself appears to have been involved in that.

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

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/stonewalls-new-boss-nancy-kelley-let-census-expert-be-no-platformed-ljsnw6v3r

You are quite right that some people will not answer the sex question accurately, but words matter and official surveys like census must reflect reality and not just the worldview of dysphoric people.

NotBadConsidering -

I'm inclined to think we'll disagree about the Times but, I'm pleased they are asking about gender identity.

As for avoiding the fine, perhaps I've been lucky but, I'm quite confident with a reasonable defence of' it clearly got lost in the post', I,m confident the boys and girls in blue would struggle to make the grade on the points to prove.

That’s fine, as long as you don’t persist in your belief that “living in a democracy” means “free to break the law”. If you live by yourself and don’t return a census they usually chase up why. I suspect someone does it for you.

@statsgeek1
careful you don’t misgender those ‘boys and girls in blue’. As a related point, I assume you wouldn’t particularly like it if they didn’t uphold the law, nor would you like it if they didn’t identify themselves correctly as officers of the law.

It’s all part and parcel of the same thing.

Society works well when we can fundamentally identify ourselves and each other with the correct language. This pertains to our sex, our names, our professions.