If you filled the Census in online - a reminder

[MsFogi]

Even if you filled in the census in online do remember you can still send a letter to express your views about the way sex and gender are recorded - template you can tweak here.

Except is this necessary
? They have separated sex and gender in the census. Which means they will have useful data re biological sex and also useful data re trans or other gender identities?

Agree with pp, there was a specifc question about your identity, it was optional but was very much there. I feel these letters are completely unnecessary

If you don't want to send a letter that's entirely fine, of course.

Personally I think it's very important to register a protest at what they tried to do with the guidance and they only backed down because of the courts getting involved and the preliminary hearing going against them.

Sex and the Census request that you still register your objections with the letter.

From their website

"Do I still need to register an objection now that FPFW have won their legal action against the ONS?
Yes. We still want you to do this.

The legal victory by FOFW is hugely significant: the guidance by ONS that said you could self-identify your sex has been withdrawn. Now you must answer the sex question with reference to your legal sex (birth certificate or GRC).

This is a big step forward. The Courts have determined that sex cannot be self-identified and this will mean that other public bodies and organisations will follow suit.

But we believe the sex question should actually be answered on the basis of biological, not legal, sex. That’s why we are still asking you to register your objections to the collection of inaccurate sex data by ordering a paper copy and enclose our template letter."

I put comments in the box at the end. Is that enough?

OK. So concern is that if you have legally gone through proces of changing sex then you would still be able to have written something different to birth sex on the sex question?

While I have huge concerns re self identification and endless frustration re women being erased i admit that I am not as focused on lobbying against this. But now I understand.

Also, prefer OPs point tht you can email your letter. Requesting a paper copy so you can enclose a letter seems silly to me.

They gave incorrect guidance that was no doubt followed by numerous people because they also encouraged people to fill it in early. They included a box on gender identity- whatever that is - without proper consultation. This document helps to decide how resources are allocated and how taxpayers money is spent. They should have taken more care and it's appropriate for those who take issue with this to raise their concerns.

I thought this part of the letter (I've tweaked it slightly) was important:
"I am sorry that that I am unable to contribute to responses to the new voluntary Question 27, because of the way it has been worded. I do not accept that I identify with a gender and indeed I believe that the concept of gender is based on sexist stereotypes and contributes to the erosion of women’s sex-based rights, so I am unable to respond with either a “Yes” or “No” to the question “Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?”. When you are considering why response rates to this question were not higher, please take cases like mine into account"

I used the online comment box at the end, which luckly someone on FWR on another thread pointed out as I would not have noticed it.

And apart from making points about sex and gender, etc., etc., I asked they to look at whatever process that led them to take the "wrong" decision in the first place, and then go ahead with defending a court case they know they would loose, and made all forms filled in before the court ruling and change to guidance invalid.

I got and filled in a paper census form. It had no guidance with it about how to fill in any of the questions.

AskingQuestionsAllTheTime - There should have been a booklet with the census (I think!)

I've answered the 'is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?' question with 'no, I do not identify with a gender', because I don't and the question presumes that I do.

It's a really weird question for anyone who has not been briefed on what it's about and why it's there. There's no question by question link to guidance on the online version. There's an assumption behind it that everyone knows what gender means and how it might differ from sex. My feeling is that most people don't distinguish between the two, seeing gender as a more polite word for sex, so will either say yes, viewing it as a repetition of the sex question, or won't answer, as the 'identify with' bit will confuse or suggest it's not for them.

I have just filled in our census online (I wasn't organised enough to get a paper one) and used the feedback box at the end to give them a piece of my mind. I covered the main points we have discussed - I hope the fact that they will receive so many letters and feedback responses on the same theme (they'll get the jist of what we are saying) will make them take note. It does at least communicate the strength of feeling about this.

I just ignored the question

Some comments on this thread too from people who filled it in online rather than doing it on paper
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4188734-i-ve-got-my-paper-census-remind-me-what-i-do?msgid=105797828#105797828

Ah, thank you. Yes, I realised I was piggybacking on the wrong thread here, it was just the first census one I saw.

I'll got for the comments box at the end instead. Otherwise I may be added to the 'people whose gender does not match their birth sex' stats.

@stumbledin

AskingQuestionsAllTheTime - There should have been a booklet with the census (I think!)

There is a booklet -- well, six sides of A4 inside a purple cover. It nowhere has any information of how to fill in any of the census questions.

DH started the online census and left my bit for me to do I made a mistake and I can't work out how to redo it. Can anyone help?

@drspouse You just go to 'view answers' and you can change them. If you've logged out, you'll need the code, to log back in.

I went back with the code and it said we've already submitted (which is true).

Oh, too late then.

AnyQuestions - I suppose they printed the info leaflet months ago under the assumption everyone was onboard with the sex can be what you like and we all know about having a gender!

As said up thread most people will answer the sex question in a straightforward way and depending on whether they have woke children or not, wont bother with gender.

On the online form it was in very large print that it was a voluntary question. Was it clear on the paper form?

Yes; voluntary was emphasised in every case.

I am still slightly angry with myself for not doing the other possible thing about it: ticking both yes and no and then blacking out both boxes very thoroughly as they showed you how to do if you made a mistake, with the note "don't understand question".