Civil servants back down on plans to quiz people if they are transgender at next census

[IwantToRetire]

Civil servants have backed down on plans to quiz people about whether they are transgender at the next census.

The government funded Office for National Statistics (ONS) faced a fierce backlash from women’s rights campaigners the last time it asked that question.

Confusing wording of a question on gender identity on the 2021 census resulted in 'unreliable' statistics which vastly overestimated the number of trans people living in England and Wales.

Now the ONS has confirmed it will not be asking 220,000 households in six local authority areas what gender they identify as in next year's census test – a dry run before the official census in 2031.

Women's rights campaigners hailed the news as 'a win for common sense'.

Article continues at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15688111/Civil-servants-ditch-plans-transgender-census.html

Good to know they've learnt from they're mistakes Our taxes at work people.

That's a relief. Their last attempts resulted them looking like clowns.. While we're used to that in the civil service, the idea that the national statisticians can be so easily persuaded to abandon facts and accurate data in favour of fantasy was a worry.

The result of a TW in a very senior position to whom apparently no one could say no!

Yes. And replicated in so many institutions.

No more sacred castes. Just citizens with equal rights who are subject to the same laws and who must follow the same fundamental principles of living in a democratic society . No more trans demands prioritised over safeguarding children, women's rights to privacy or freedom of speech - in or out of the workplace.

That headline is misleading. The ONS will be asking about gender identity on the next census just not on the test run they are currently planning...

Now the ONS has confirmed it will not be asking 220,000 households in six local authority areas what gender they identify as in next year's census test - a dry run before the official census in 2031.

An ONS spokesman said the new question on gender identity 'is not due to be finalised in time to be incorporated into the test questionnaire'.

I do quite like the idea that by the year 2131 there will be a hundred years of censi without the gender question, then one census with the question, followed by a hundred years without it. Should make it nice and easy for future historians to pinpoint exactly when the country was completely off its trolley.

Quote: An ONS spokesman said the new question on gender identity 'is not due to be finalised in time to be incorporated into the test questionnaire'.

This is rather stupid. Of all the questions most in need of testing.

It would be good to get a real estimate of how many people are currently believing themselves "trans" and how that changes from census to census.

But I would like wording that means I don't have to choose between a "non-binary" label and a "do not wish to say" label.

What would you put in it?

I think it needs categories that will clarify whether the respondent has lied in the sex question e.g. trans woman, trans man, non-binary or other identity, do not have a gender identity, prefer not to say. But is even that too anchored in current ideological language and won't make sense in 100 years?

Is the plural really censi?!

How pleasing.

Forced to back down more like it.

The dickheads will enter dodgy data anyway.

It would be helpful if they asked a straightforward question like "Are you trans?" to know actual figures.

They should ask both sex and if someone identifies as trans. That way they capture all the accurate data. I don't know why they think this is complicated.

Q1 what is your sex as observed at birth?
Male/female

Q2 do you identify as transgender?
Yes/no

If they wanted they could add
Q2a (if yes to Q2) what gender identity do you use?
Transwoman/trans man/non binary/other (please specify)

It's really simple

As someone who doesn't think I have a gender identity that aligns with my sex, I don't know how to answer that.

(Isn't the whole notion of genders aligning with a sex inherently transphobic anyway?? As it assumes eg women are female)

I'm hoping either that one of the options is "I don't have a gender identity" or "I haven't received sufficient information to determine what my gender id is".

Last time they made a dog's dinner of trying to explain it.

Edit -I should clarify.

"A term to describe people whose gender is not the same as, or does not sit comfortably with, the sex they were assigned at birth."

That is what transgender is according to Stonewall.
If my gender is "none", does that "sit considerably with" female, or not? Does it make someone agender?

Slightly tangential, but the other day I logged back into my YouGov account after a long absence and was invited to "complete my profile" because they were apparently missing some information.

The question I was presented with was "Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex assigned at birth? Yes/No" (followed by a free-text box after the No).

Holy 2018, Batman!

I had no choice but to tick the No if I wanted to write my thoughts in the box which consisted of a less sweary version of "WTF you sneaky arses who pretend to give a shit about data collection, you should know better than to pose such a biased question but I know what you're about".

I have no doubt that the dishonest fuckers will gladly add my No to the tally of Most Vulnerable, whilst totally ignoring my actual comment.

‘Do you identify as transgender’ No/Yes/don’t know’ seems pretty straightforward.

This is the marginalised we hear so much about?

Funnily enough I recently found my letter from last time, containing the telling off for not doing it online, because like lots of us, I had requested a paper version so that I could feedback on the questions.

They still haven’t learned, have they?

They are probably struggling to come up with wording that is acceptable by transactivists within ONS but also actually makes sense

Or are aware of how fucking stupid they looked last time so have decided not to give advance warning of this time's ridiculous question?

No, it's censuses. (Sorry to disappoint.)

https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/census

https://www.grammar-monster.com/plurals/plural_of_census.htm

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/census

Not just stupid - also expensive

https://fairplayforwomen.com/fair-play-for-women-wins-high-court-challenge-against-ons-census/

No

God dammit 😆😆

I so wanted it to be censi

life us just full of endless disappointment!

Maybe they should just ask the sex. And maybe the mail should stop saying “women’s rights campaigners say it’s a win for common sense” like it’s the 1950s

It will be interesting information for generations to come. Somehow we manage to decode the archaic stuff in the old censuses about jobs that no longer exist, places that have changed names and the 'interesting' handwriting of the times. I suspect our descendants will be smart enough to understand the gender issues of the current times. It would be really interesting to have the sexual orientation of the past generations on the old censuses, but it was illegal to be anything but straight.