In February 2020 the Scottish Government confirmed Scotland’s next census will advise respondents to answer the question in line with their ‘lived sex’. However, in England and Wales, which is conducting a census in 2021, debate continues about the form of guidance that will accompany the sex question. This has presented opportunities for several mythsContinue reading “Mythbusting is back!”
Author Archives: Kevin Guyan
Gender by default – New Zealand’s proposed approach to collecting data about sex and gender
New Zealand’s official data agency has proposed a ‘gender by default’ approach to how the government collects data about sex and gender. This proposal is part of a consultation being conducted by Stats NZ, New Zealand’s national statistical organisation and the body responsible for the country’s 2023 census. The consultation describes ‘gender by default’ asContinue reading “Gender by default – New Zealand’s proposed approach to collecting data about sex and gender”
Predictably queer
An update on the backlash against predictive list functionality for the ‘Other’ sexual orientation option in Scotland’s 2021 census.
Queer erasure in the US census
On 1 April 2020, against the backdrop of an international public health emergency, the United States of America conducted its 24th national census — one of the largest data collection exercises in history. The US census did not ask a question about sexual orientation but it did frame queer identities in a way that endorses a potentiallyContinue reading “Queer erasure in the US census”
