Practical Androgyny

PracticalAndrogyny.com writes up a summary and analysis of how the UK census records ‘sex’ and reflects non-binary genders.

In 2001 approximately 14,000 people ticked both male and female and 185,000 people ticked neither box, this accounts for 0.4% of the population. We will eventually be given similar counts of how many people failed to indicate a single binary ‘sex’ or who answered both male and female in the 2011 census. It will be extremely interesting to see if the rate of non-response or the proportion of multi-ticking has risen since 2001 in light of the (albeit limited) campaigns asking non-binary and genderqueer people to tick both answers.

Although “What is your sex?” had the lowest imputation rate for any question, the figures nonetheless indicate that there were almost two hundred thousand answers that were potentially attempting to accurately record a non-binary gender or intersex status, of which the 14,000 multi-ticked answers are highly likely to be intentional. Some of the ‘non-response’ answers counted may have actually indicated a non-binary gender or intersex status by writing this information into the space around the question.

However the ONS has no plans to report figures for the number of people who wrote in, spoiled, amended or clarified their answers on the paper forms. The individual answers will however be stored and made available in 100 years. Knowing these individual figures could be extremely interesting and would help to show how many people felt strongly enough about their non-binary gender to protest being asked for a binary sex on the census. However even with this information, the census data will never be a good indication of the numbers of non-binary people in the United Kingdom due to the intentionally limiting and misleading nature of the question.

We have no way of knowing, until the years 2101 and 2111, how many answers recorded as ‘non-response’ or even as a binary ‘sex’ in fact indicated an unambiguous non-binary answer by writing in this information. We’ll never know how many more people with non-binary genders opted to answer with their assigned or legal sex due to incorrectly believing that was what the census was asking for, due to the legally mandated nature of the question, due to using the online form which did not allow multiple, skipped or written in answers, due to someone else in their household incorrectly answering for them, or out of fear of the ramifications of indicating trans* status on a form that would be seen by their entire household.

[…]

Write to the Office for National Statistics requesting that the number of people who wrote in some kind of response extra to the binary options in the question of sex be counted and reported. Ideally this information would be further sub-divided into those who did this while ticking no items, ticking male alone, ticking female alone or ticking both. We would also need to know the number of people who completed the question online and were therefore unable to amend the question or give any kind of non-binary answer. When requesting this information, state that we do not believe that this would be a statistically valid reflection of the numbers of non-binary trans* people in the country, but we do feel that it would give a better reflection of how many felt strongly enough about their gender to clarify their answer or protest the question.

In addition to campaigning about the census now past, if you want the government to legally recognise the existence of non-binary genders and record accurate statistics about our numbers then write to your MP explaining how strongly you feel about this issue and how having your gender ignored and erased impacts your life. Also ask your MP to write to the Minister for Equalities Lynne Featherstone on your behalf to explain how important it is to you that National Statistics surveys and censuses record and reflect non-binary genders and other types of trans* experiences.

Read more at PracticalAndrogyny.com

My UK Census Freedom of Information request to the Office for National Statistics, about the recording of non-binary ‘sex’ has received a response.

A PracticalAndrogyny.com analysis post will be written in due course, but in brief: All non-binary answers will be statistically ‘corrected’. The scanned forms are saved and will be available in 100 years.

Figures will eventually be made available to indicate how many answers were ‘corrected’ for each question. The figures for 2001 are available here: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/imputation_rates_by_variable.asp

This is consistent with the answers I was given at the time of the 2001 UK Census.

Read the full response from the Office of National Statistics

fitvillains:

Excerpt from CNN.com

In what is believed to be a world first, Nepal’s Central Bureau of Statistics is giving official recognition to gay and transgender people — a move seen as major victory for equality in a country that only decriminalized homosexual relationships…

Is that true, no other country’s census has recognised ‘gay and transgender’ people? Why are census statisticians so socially conservative?

(via genderqueer)

I made a Freedom of Information request of the Office for National Statistics about the ‘sex’ question on the UK Census, with particular relevance to those who are genderqueer or of non-binary gender:

In the run up to the 2011 census, transgender and transsexual
people contacting Census Customer Services were advised to answer
question 2, ‘What is your sex?’ with the option that most closely
matched their self identity, rather than their legal status.

Several transgender individuals who genuinely do not identify as
female or male were also advised that if they were to tick both of
the options provided, they would not be penalised for failing to
answer a required question.

In another Freedom of Information request response, your Office has
explained that when indicated sex or marital status does not
correspond with expected or ‘legally recognised’ structures, this
may be ‘resolved using a probabilistic statistical system’.
Reference:

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ce…

Could you please explain:

1a) How is the ‘sex’ question used in census statistics? What is an
answer of ‘male’ or ‘female’ taken to mean?

1b) How the ONS compensates for the inaccuracies/ambiguity
introduced by conflating the separate concepts of sex, social
gender, legal gender and gender identity into one binary question?

2a) Does the census system accept answers for this question other
than responses of only ‘male’ or ‘female’?

2b) Will the figures be made available for the number of people who
answered census question 2 to indicate they are:

i) Both male and female
ii) Neither male nor female
iii) Some other sex/gender, indicated by adding an additional box
or writing an answer in the space around the question
iv) Abstaining from answering the question, indicated by writing
this in the space around the question or by crossing out or
otherwise spoiling the question

2c) Are such figures available for the 1981, 1991 and 2001
censuses? If so, where may I read these?

3a) Will people who indicated that they do not have a single sex
ever have their answer ‘corrected’ or ‘resolved’ to assign them a
single binary sex?

3b) If so, what criteria will be used to assign this sex? How is
this justified?

4) Approximately how many people had their answer for sex
‘corrected’ in the 1981, 1991 and 2001 census statistics for any
reason?

Should I receive a response, this will be written up as an article on PracticalAndrogyny.com

The blog Complicity exposes how the Office of National Statistics will be ‘correcting’ UK census data to make LGBT and poly relationships appropriately heteronormative:

If you’re a gay man and ticked the married box then the Office for National Statistics will ensure the “mismatch is… resolved using a probabilistic statistical system [to] alter one or more variables to make the response consistent“. And yes, they specifically state this could result in the system “changing the sex of one individual“.

This completely ignores the fact that married – not just Civil Partnered – couples of the same sex are entirely valid. Perhaps it’s a foreign marriage, or you’re Trans and married but don’t have a GRC for any of a whole host of reasons?

Oh, and they might divorce you anyway: If you indicate multiple relationships (A Poly household for example) they’ll just pick one to ensure everyone is in nice neat couples for their system. I guess anything else would just be Too Complicated for the statisticians.

Read more at Complicity

This tallies with what I was told in 2001 when I asked how genderqueer people entering both or neither binary options would be recorded and was told they’d be ‘statistically corrected’.

For reference, it’s two months to the day since I last wrote to the ONS asking for more information on how non-binary genders will be recorded. As such, I’ve just emailed again to ask if and when I can expect an answer.