Census question is about sexuality not sex

saratiddyWed 13/02/08 18:55

A proposal to include a question on sexuality in the next UK-wide census has been backed by trade unionists and the Green party, but caused confusion among some people.

A senior researcher who is an expert on LGBT issues told PinkNews.co.uk that any question must focus on sexual identity and not orientation.

The academic, who asked not to be named, explained:

"Some have put forward the argument that such a question involved someone's private sexual behaviour or 'a private life.'

"In fact being a gay man, as opposed to being a 'man who has sex with men' is all about being public.

"Sexual identity is concerned not with people's sex lives but with their identity. That is why the phrase "sexual orientation" is troublesome."

Gay equality organisation Stonewall yesterday joined forces with the Trades Union Congress to ask for questions on sexual orientation to form part of the census.

The next national survey will take place in 2011. It is conducted every 10 years by the Office of National Statistics [ONS] and every household in the UK is legally required to fill out a census form.

On the issue of sexual identity vs. orientation, a Stonewall spokesperson told PinkNews.co.uk:

"National Statistics uses the term sexual identity to describe its work in this area, and Stonewall is fine with that.

"We are more interested in ensuring that good robust data is collected in the census on lesbian and gay people, so organisations such as health trusts and police forces can deliver good services to the community."

The lack of a question on the census has led to other social research organisations to exclude questions on sexual identity, often citing the lack of a standardised question.

Most noticeably, the British Crime Survey fails to ask respondents about their sexual orientation, despite government and police initiatives around homophobic crime.

At present, the question about religion is optional and it is thought that a question on sexual identity would most likely also not be compulsory.

It has already been confirmed that there will be an option to record civil partnership alongside marriage on the 2011 census.

Today the Green party called for gender identity to feature in the census.

"We will make these concerns strongly to the ONS in our lobbying," said LGBT Greens spokesman Phelim Mac Cafferty.

The UK would be the first country in the world to include a question about sexuality on its census.

Information about individuals collected from the census is secret for 100 years and only the aggregate statistics are published.

Final decisions on the content of the 2011 census will not be made until the consultation and testing programme is complete and Parliament gives formal approval in 2010.

A White Paper setting out the Government's proposals is scheduled for the autumn.

Last month it was revealed that just one in 100 people described themselves as gay in a government survey into British sexuality.

A further one in 100 describe themselves as bisexual, 0.6 per cent said "other" and three per cent say they were not willing to declare their sexuality to the Office of National Statistics [ONS].

Some failed to to answer the question properly; responses included: "female", "normal", "not active" and "I am OK with my sexuality."

The Office of National Statistics asked 4,000 people but admitted that the results of the survey were "not a reliable estimate" of the gay population.

Article: www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6841.html

... QUESTION ... if there was a question about sexuality what would you put? Would you tick GAY/LESBIAN with pride, or think it is none of their business?

saratiddyWed 13/02/08 18:59

ALSO .....

Unions demand gay question on 2011 census

The General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress Brendan Barber has joined with gay equality organisation Stonewall's chief executive Ben Summerskill to ask for questions on sexual orientation to form part of the census.

The next national survey will take place in 2011.

It is conducted every 10 years by the Office of National Statistics [ONS], who announced last year that they did not think a question about sexual orientation would not be suitable.

The TUC and Stonewall believe that excluding sexual orientation data places LGBT groups at a disadvantage, as local authorities don't have an idea of numbers of LGBT people in their communities when they are allocating resources for services.

A spokesman for the ONS said:

"The Office for National Statistics recognises that there is some user demand for information on sexual identity but considers that the census is not suitable for collecting information on sexual identity for the first time.

The main priority for the Census is an accurate headcount.

"There are significant concerns about privacy and acceptability and the effect that such a question could have on the overall response."

Last year Stephen Williams MP tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons asking the government to ensure that a question is asked in 2011 about sexual orientation.

"A question on sexual orientation would help to monitor equality legislation and improve service provision to lesbian, gay and bisexual people," his motion reads.

Mr Williams, the MP for Bristol West, welcomed the decision to ask a question about civil partnerships, but said that is important to know how many gay people there are in the UK.

"There will always be some dispute as to the proportion of people that are gay, lesbian or bisexual - is it 5%? 8%? 10%?

"It is important that the make-up of society is understood.

"I do not buy this argument that this is not a suitable question for the census, every census since 1901 has added questions - we now ask people about their race and even if people are white and Irish.

"In 2001 I wrote onto my census form that I am Welsh, because there was no way of recording that as I live in England, and that I am gay. "

The ONS said:

"The General Register Office in Scotland has carried out a small scale postal survey which included a question on sexual identity.

"However, this produced a very low overall response rate and a very high proportion of people who did not provide useful data on sexual identity, either by ticking the 'prefer not to answer' box or by declining to complete the question at all."

Mr Williams told PinkNews.co.uk that some reluctance to answer questions on sexual orientation could be overcome by making people aware of how census data is used:

"I can understand that some people will be reluctant to disclose, but information about individuals is secret for 100 years and it is only the aggregate statistics that are published

"There is a risk of under-reporting, but a PR campaign by ONS and campaigning groups to encourage people to register would counter that."

Final decisions on the content of the 2011 Census will not be made until the consultation and testing programme is complete and Parliament gives formal approval in 2010.

A White Paper setting out the Government's proposals is scheduled for autumn 2008.

"We are looking at the feasibility of including the question [or questions] on ONS social surveys, to allow for estimates of the size and characteristics of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual [LGB] population to be produced," said an ONS spokesman.

"We are consulting on this with government and non-governmental organisations, including representatives from LGB groups."

article: www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6825.html