Decision to backtrack on plan to include third option is welcomed by data campaigners

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The next Scottish census in 2021 will stick with a male/female sex question, after the body responsible backtracked on its controversial proposal to include a third option.

The decision by National Records of Scotland to maintain a binary formulation was confirmed for the Scottish government by Fiona Hyslop, the minister for culture, tourism and external affairs. Holyrood must now vote on the proposal, but this is considered a formality.

The Equality Network, which campaigns for LGBT rights in Scotland, had argued for a third option to the sex question, ideally offering a write-in box for individuals to define themselves using the terminology they prefer.

The NRS decision was welcomed by data campaigners, who continued their calls for clarity about how the mandatory question should be answered. Dr Kath Murray of the policy analyst collective Murray Blackburn Mackenzie said: “It is important that respondents are not guided to answer the question in terms of their self-identified gender, as this would conflate two different demographic characteristics and undermine data reliability.”

The NRS had also proposed individuals should answer the sex question based on how they self-identify.

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But Hyslop said NRS, “recognising that some concerns have been raised on the self-identification basis of answering the sex question”, would continue testing the question and associated guidance, and how new voluntary questions about transgender identity and sexual orientation interact with it.

In June, the Scottish parliament voted to ask new questions about transgender identity and sexual orientation in the 2021 census, allowing national demographics to chart Scotland’s trans community for the first time.

However, during scrutiny of the census bill, significant concerns were raised about the proposal from the NRS that the mandatory sex question should include a non-binary response option.

This formula was recently rejected by the Office for National Statistics for the next census in England and Wales in favour of maintaining the binary male/female sex question and adding a voluntary question on gender identity for those aged over 16.

Data experts and policy analysts raised concerns that the proposed changes risked undermining the reliability of the survey and set a difficult precedent for equalities protection.

These anxieties were reflected in a highly critical report by Holyrood’s culture, tourism, Europe and external affairs committee, published in February, which argued a lack of consultation with women’s groups had led to the publication of legislation that conflated sex and gender identity.

The convenor of the committee, Joan McAlpine, said: “I very much welcome the decision. It reflects the advice in the committee’s report, which was based on evidence taken from a wide range of stakeholders.”

James Morton of the Scottish Trans Alliance said: “In an ideal world, we would have loved to see the addition of an answer option for non-binary trans people. However, the key issue is protecting the existing rights of trans women and trans men to answer the census with the self-identified sex in which they live.

“When combined with the additional voluntary trans status question, the self-ID sex question gives the best quality data and for the first time will enable census data comparisons between trans women, trans men, and other women and men.”