(Last Updated: 17 October 2021)
UK will divide over census sex question
The Times – 05/10/2021
Sex, gender identity, trans status – data collection and publication: guidance
Chief Statistician (Scotland) – 22/09/2021
Roger Halliday, the chief statistician in Scotland, has chosen to ignore the findings of a public consultation. Analysis of the consultation noted that “disaggregating data between men and women can show where there is continuing discrimination which needs to be tackled.”
But Halliday has drawn up guidance that fails to acknowledge the importance of collecting data on sex. He states that information about whether a respondent is male or female should only be recorded in “a small number of instances”, “on an individual basis for a very specific purpose” and “on a case-by-case basis”.
The rationale he gives is that “asking individuals to disclose their sex may raise privacy issues.” Halliday notes that “in some cases this would have the potential to reveal a trans history that otherwise a person may wish to keep private”.
Sex and the census: why surveys should not conflate sex and gender identity
Alice Sullivan – 19/05/2020
Women Speak Scotland 