UK Census guidance on how to answer sex question must be rewritten, High Court rules

[stumbledin]

Campaigners argued that the guidance allowed “self-identification through the back door” because the sex on someone’s passport can be altered without legally changing gender first.
Mr Justice Swift on Tuesday ruled in favour of the campaigners, granting them interim relief and ordering that the guidance should be rewritten to remove the words “such as” and “passport”.
Mr Justice Swift also gave the green light for the case to proceed forward to a full judicial review, which could be heard as early as next week.
Fair Play For Women, which crowdfunded £100,000 to bring the legal challenge against the guidance, argued that withdrawing it now would be the “safer option” given that the Census will go live on March 21.
The court heard that three million people - around one fifth of households - have already filled the questionnaire online.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/09/uk-census-guidance-answer-sex-question-must-rewritten-high-court/

Fair Play for Women tweet thread twitter.com/fairplaywomen/status/1369230649425596416

Fair Play for Women have been brilliant for starting the court case and fantastic so many have contributed to the costs.

More and more women are having to face the facts that in the era of SM bullying campaigning doesn't always work. And we are having to rely on the court system - if we can afford it!

Thank you. The end of a long day- plus finding it hard to believe that a sensible response is given in light of the depths of institutional capture

It’s a positive statement. It’s the civil balance of probabilities test - is something more likely [to happen] than not [happen]. So FPFW were more likely to succeed than not succeed.

An excellent result, but it should never have come to this in the first place and question must be asked as to why it did. Taxpayer money being wasted on these Court cases against Government Departments at a time when the Government is picking the taxpayer pocket for more money to offset the damage of Covid and Brexit.

Poor Judge Swift though, he has had quite a number of surprises in these cases.

Thank you to FPFW, and Nicola Williams. Calm, logical facts and evidence. With a healthy side order of determination. I am so very grateful.

I can’t find it now, but I was reading somewhere about the fact that when the ONS was moved from London to Newport 10 years ago, 90% of the staff declined to move with it. The article was saying that a huge amount of institutional knowledge and expertise was lost at that point.

Bet he is clearing his head with a glass or two of chateau Thames embankment.
The Guardian news report was v straight too: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/09/guidance-on-sex-question-in-uk-census-must-be-changed-high-court-rules

"MORE likely than not" is I think a less direct way of saying there is a greater possibility of succeeding than of not succeeding.

We need to know who is allowing / encouraging this attempt by stealth to erase the reality of women as a sex class.

Who, and why??
A few questions about how they have got so much power in such a short time would be valid too. Gays and lesbians had to campaign for a century to come anywhere near success. Women's fight, of course, has never stopped.

I'm so glad that between the House of Lords and the courts, it's starting to feel like the grown ups have come back in the room. That shouldn't need to be the case, but clearly our elected representatives and taxpayer-funded public bodies have got far too giddy on the kool aid and can't manage without supervision.

Brilliant result! Thank you FPFW!

And a huge thank you to everybody who contributed to the crowdfunder that facilitated this action.

Well - got my diagnosis 10 years ago. Had my surgery 5 years ago.
I don't have a GRC. Never needed one.
There is no way that I am going to put male down in the Census.

I am going to get a GRC because I can see the way the wind is blowing.
I don't see Boris making it any easier to get a GRC. Not that it's hard.

But no one will ever ask to see my GRC. It's a confidential document.
My passport says Female. As does my driving license. All my official documents.

I've had to start digging out evidence of my diagnosis, evidence of surgery.

@GottogetaGRC

Well - got my diagnosis 10 years ago. Had my surgery 5 years ago. I don't have a GRC. Never needed one. There is no way that I am going to put male down in the Census.

I am going to get a GRC because I can see the way the wind is blowing.
I don't see Boris making it any easier to get a GRC. Not that it's hard.

But no one will ever ask to see my GRC. It's a confidential document.
My passport says Female. As does my driving license. All my official documents.

I've had to start digging out evidence of my diagnosis, evidence of surgery.

Knowingly putting false information on your census form is subject to a fine of up to £1,000

Knowingly putting false information on your census form is subject to a fine of up to £1,000

I know
How would they know?

So what is it exactly you want from posting on this thread gottoget ? You like boasting that you will be breaking the law? Or you want us to validate your specialness ? Not in the spirit I would say

Strictly speaking, the judge hasn't definitely ruled. He has given permission for the judicial review to go ahead, and directed the form be changed in the interim- he granted interim relief. The full hearing will be next week probably.

@Thecatonthemat

So what is it exactly you want from posting on this thread gottoget ? You like boasting that you will be breaking the law? Or you want us to validate your specialness ? Not in the spirit I would say

Not in the spirit.

Like I said, I have all the requirements to get a GRC rather than the self ID.

I am against self ID.

However, there is no way I am going to put Male down as the sex answer.

That's my view as someone who would be allowed under this ruling to put down female as sex if I had a GRC which I have all the paperwork for.

So now - I have to get a GRC, which is a document I will never have to use, never have to show anyone.

But at least once you get a GRC, you will count towards the trans population in terms of services and healthcare.

The government knows how many and who have GRC’s, so it’s the best way for them to monitor who is trans etc.

However, there is no way I am going to put Male down as the sex answer.

It's not a value judgement. It's your sex.

Just so happened that me paper copy finally arrived today. I haven't printed a version of the Sex in the Census letter yet.

Does this ruling mean I dont need to submit paper copy + letter, or is there still something to be gained by doing so?

Does this ruling mean I dont need to submit paper copy + letter, or is there still something to be gained by doing so?

We may need to buckle up for a bumpy ride depending on an appeal and the scheduling of the JR so it's hard to call the correct course of action as yet.

Does this ruling mean I dont need to submit paper copy + letter, or is there still something to be gained by doing so?

I think there still is.

I was pleased to see that the census asked for what sex we had been "registered" at birth rather than "assigned." It makes the question a simple matter of fact rather than opinion. It also asked about my state of health and religion. Would it benefit me to pretend I was in very good health, or an atheist, if it wasn't the case? No one cares - they are simply collecting data.

Just answer the questions as truthfully and sensibly as you can, and don't be a wally @GottogetaGRC.

@GottogetaGRC

Well - got my diagnosis 10 years ago. Had my surgery 5 years ago. I don't have a GRC. Never needed one. There is no way that I am going to put male down in the Census.

I am going to get a GRC because I can see the way the wind is blowing.
I don't see Boris making it any easier to get a GRC. Not that it's hard.

But no one will ever ask to see my GRC. It's a confidential document.
My passport says Female. As does my driving license. All my official documents.

I've had to start digging out evidence of my diagnosis, evidence of surgery.

Information from censuses is used to predict the future need for public services. Whatever you identify as, your medical needs will continue to match your biological sex. Are you prepared to risk a shortfall in prostate exam/cervical cancer screening provision (delete as applicable)?

@GottogetaGRC

Well - got my diagnosis 10 years ago. Had my surgery 5 years ago. I don't have a GRC. Never needed one. There is no way that I am going to put male down in the Census.

I am going to get a GRC because I can see the way the wind is blowing.
I don't see Boris making it any easier to get a GRC. Not that it's hard.

But no one will ever ask to see my GRC. It's a confidential document.
My passport says Female. As does my driving license. All my official documents.

I've had to start digging out evidence of my diagnosis, evidence of surgery.

Is it really in your interests to put down 'female', @GottogetaGRC?

Suppose every born male who identified as a woman decided 'no way am I going to put male down in the Census'? So they all register their sex as female and their gender identity too. Thus, the number of transwomen in the country would be grossly undercounted. The NHS will plan their services on that undercount, and the transwomen's specific health needs will be poorly served, with long waiting times and not enough specialist staff trained.

The Census collects data for a purpose - to plan. Inaccurate data will lead to bad decisions being made, and in the hypothetical scenario I outlined, you would be one of the people disadvantaged by those bad decisions. I just don't see why you would do that to yourself.