In a win, UK includes gender identity in the upcoming Census 2021

In a first of its kind, Britain is set to include gender identity in its 2021 census.  

Professor Sir Ian Diamond told the BBC radio that the census will be conducted on March 21, 2021, and it will include questions about people’s legal sex. He said, “We will be asking for the first time a voluntary question later in the questionnaire about gender identity.” He added that the question will only be asked from people over 16 years of age. 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recommended asking people if their legal sex is the same their gender identity and if it’s not, they will be asked to enter what it is. 

With this inclusion, the UK now joins the list of many other countries who have decided to have third gender criteria in the census.

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What is Gender Identity and How is it different from sex?

Gender identity is how one feels inside and how one expresses those feelings.  Clothing, appearance, and behaviours are some of the ways to express an individuals’ gender identity.

On the other hand, sex is a label that is given to a child at birth based on medical factors, including hormones, chromosomes, and genitals.

So, what is gender?

Gender is a social construct. Often associated with what the society expects from you based on your biological label that is male or female. It includes behaviours, characteristics, thoughts and roles.

In a nutshell, there’s a lot more to being male, female, or any gender than the sex assigned at birth. The biological or assigned sex does not always tell your complete story, and thus we need gender identity as an accepted norm.

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