Since 1801 the decennial census has asked us to state our sex. But never before has such a simple question generated such controversy. Yesterday, it ended up before a high court judge. With the 2021 census less than two weeks away, Mr Justice Swift ruled that the guidance accompanying the question should be changed.
The legal action, brought by the campaigning group Fair Play for Women (FPFW), arose after the Office of National Statistics (ONS) backtracked on a promise made by Sir Ian Diamond – the UK’s National Statistician. In January, Diamond was very clear on the Today programme, when he said, ‘The question on sex is very simply your legal sex.’
Sex matters. In the words of the ONS, ‘Sex, as biologically determined, is one of the most frequently used and important characteristics the census collects’
Therefore, Diamond’s shift to ‘legal sex’ should have worried any enumerator concerned about the accuracy of the census.
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