Channel 4 news.

[Thecatonthemat]

Apparently now people are “identifying as black or Asian” on an item about vaccines. Surely “they are “?

A friend forwarded me a job ad today, requiring applicants to 'identify as being from' a black or minority ethnic group as an essential requirement for the post

When I went for a virus test the young woman (20ish) who was filling in my details checked with me whether I identified as white. I figured this is probably standard New Speak among her age group. And when I got the vaccine itself the woman filling in the records on the computer asked if I identified as white British. She was a bit older but still...

I can't get too worked up about any of these. It's equivalent to saying 'How would you describe your ethnicity?'

I believe it's been standard for years to use 'Do you identify as having a disability?' instead of saying 'Would you describe yourself as having a disability?'

In both these cases, the answer to the question should be based in verifiable facts and it would probably usually be obvious to everyone what the answer was going to be. In the case of 'Do you identify as ....' with some sort of gender variant as the possible answer, not so much.

Anyone who asks me this is going to get a wide-eyed request for all the possible categories, so that I can decide which fits best with my "identity",

Quite possibly none will, so it will have to be "other". And if they ask me to specify, I shall say "Haplogroup R1b-L21". Or "Gog". Or some other perfectly defensible identity.

I am obviously too old fashioned to comment ...