Parent carer survey and gender identity question

[islandbeach]

Survey from my local parent carer forum wanting views on how the local authority is meeting the needs of our SEN and disabled children. DS is preschool age with a severe disability. I’m furious we are being forced to answer this question about our vulnerable children and no option to opt out or state no gender identity. No question on sex either.

I’m just not sure I’m brave enough to ‘out’ myself by emailing them especially when I will need to use this organisation for many years and I don’t know what the reaction will be, and it’s really important to share our experience with the local authority. We have enough battles as it is.

So not quite sure what to do. Should I allow them to think my severely disabled preschooler ‘identifies’ as male or ‘other’. Or maybe set up an anonymous email address. Any thoughts appreciated.

I'm sorry, OP. I share your rage.

In this instance, I would probably check the 'male' box and focus on keeping the support and help you need from the council.

If the issue is going to impact the help/care/support you receive, then I would take it further, but in most instances it'll have been given about 5 minutes thought and they'll use that phrasing because someone thinks it's vaguely accepted as the currently trendy correct thing to do, not because of any ideological basis.

Put it bluntly, nobody believes this crap apart from a very very small core of idiots who are somehow in positions of power.

Do they also ask a sex question?
I’m a member of our local parent carer forum and if I received this I’d definately challenge it. My DC has a severe learning disability and has therefore no comprehension of gender identity. They are not being inclusive to people like them.

There is not a sex question. First question is postcode, then gender identity, then age range, then on to educational setting, type of needs etc.

It’s a good point about it not being inclusive to the children. It’s so infuriating that the equality and rights of disabled children is also being disregarded over the rights of trans people / gender identity by a service specifically aimed at disabled children. It makes me so mad!

I wont do anything before Christmas now anyway as survey is open for six weeks so time to consider what to do. I’d like to think questioning it wouldn’t impact anything (because it shouldn’t!) but that’s the whole problem with the no debate / cancel culture. And you just don’t know who you will be raising it with.

I had some success with my local health authority and the language on their medical consent forms, which similarly asked for gender not sex. I pointed out that it was necessary for them to have correct data based on sex (in case of adverse reactions etc) and also what if I had a female child who identified as male, what would I put?

They agreed to change the forms with immediate effect, then went online only and we were back to square one, but that's a fight for another day.

In your situation, surely the sex of the children concerned is more important than their 'gender identity' and given the age of the children, I think this question is misguided at best, but the influence of Stonewall et al runs deep.

As an aside, while I use my married surname day to day, I set up a separate email for tackling anything gender related, using my former surname - so eg jsmith@hotmail - and always sign off as jsmith rather than jane smith, to try to avoid any unconscious bias. This started when I put in a FOI request and I wanted to slightly distance myself from it. Might it be possible for you to do similar with a new email address to then contact the LA asking why they are asking for gender identity rather than sex. There have been numerous threads on here about GDPR and not asking for information that is irrelevant so that might also be an angle to take. I know that I should be a bit braver and email with my actual current name, but I do not want my interactions to affect my children and so understand why you might hesitate to get involved

OP from what I understand from parent carer forums, they are run by other parents not experts. You’re perfectly within your rights to point out to them that by asking for gender identity, the survey excludes all children that either don’t have capacity to understand what gender identity is not children who can’t communicate their gender identity.
My bet it’s one wokey parent wanting to show off their right on credentials, completely forgetting the vast array of disabilities children may have. Hopefully by pointing it out, you’ll shame them into changing the survey.

I would absolutely email them and point out that this question is discriminatory on the basis that not every child wishes to - or can - “identify” as having a gender.

Ask them for a child-friendly definition of gender identity in order to enable you to answer this question. It is about identity after all, and they should be able to tell you how you can find out how your child identifies.

Or ask them what the legal justification is for collecting data on gender identity and just point out to them in a friendly manner that all organisations, even community organisations run by volunteers must comply with GDPR. Without a legal purpose for holding this data, they cannot lawfully collect it.

There's a reason for collecting data on sex, obviously, because male and female children have different needs, but gender identity?

My main concern about this is - Does this question also appear on the form that is entitled 'Views of young people'?. I objected to this question verbally when I was asked it during research. I said that I didn't want my dd being told she had a choice at this stage. The researcher agreed with me, we shared a bit of an eye roll about the world we live in, then ticked female and moved on. Dd did not get asked the question.
To word the question 'Are you... male, female, other? Would be better and genuinely more inclusive. It would allow everyone to answer the question.

I think I might have the same form, or a similar one at least. Services aimed at children with disabilities and one of the first questions is about gender identity. I've decided not to join the service and will write and explain clearly why. Will wait until after Christmas though. It's very frustrating though.