2022 Census won’t have questions on sex identity
DESPITE becoming a world leader on issues such as gay marriage, Ireland will have to wait until 2026 at least before a full picture emerges of just how sexually diverse the country is.
The delay follows a decision by the Government and the Central Statistics Office not to include questions about gender and sexual identity in its already delayed 2022 Census.
The issue was raised in a parliamentary question to Taoiseach Micheál Martin from Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe, who asked if Ireland would follow the recent example of the UK and have optional questions on gender identity and sexuality in the April 2022 census.
The UK census included two voluntary questions, one of which asked: ‘Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation?’
People were given the choice to answer from either of the following options: ‘straight or heterosexual’, ‘gay or lesbian’, ‘bisexual’ or ‘other sexual orientation’. This provided the British government, for the first time, with reliable data on the proportion of the population who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
In Scotland, which is due to conduct a separate census in 2022, the public will also be asked voluntary questions on sexual orientation and gender identity.
One statistician said:
‘Gathering data on LGBT communities is a vital step towards building a society where LGBT people are truly accepted everywhere and by everyone.’
Social Democrat TD Cian O’Callaghan echoed this view, saying: ‘A more diverse questionnaire helps us to get to know our own country better. It’s a vital tool for planning services. It is a constructive way to find out how to plan and fund LGBT needs and to form policies and services.’
However, when it comes to measuring the scale and diversity of the Irish LGBT community a Government spokesperson confirmed to the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Preparations for the census, to take place in April 2022, are at an advanced stage and the addition of further questions is not now possible.’
The spokesperson confirmed the addition of new questions on both gender identity and sexual orientation to the census ‘were considered as part of the public consultation undertaken by CSO between 2017 and 2019’.
In 2017 the CSO convened a Census Advisory Group, which consisted of representatives of government departments, local authorities, public bodies, the social partners, universities and research institutes, as well as CSO personnel.
However, the Government spokesperson said that while considerations over the inclusion of questions on gender identity and sexual orientation were discussed, ‘neither topic was recommended for inclusion in Census 2022’. #
They said that the CSO was planning to include ‘a new gender identity question in addition to a sex at birth question in a new social survey’, which is due to be carried out in the coming months.
They said this would ‘facilitate the introduction of questions on both gender identity and sexual orientation for testing as part of ‘the next consultation process after Census 2022’.
The CSO confirmed the ‘sex’ question it used in the 2016 Census would be retained for the next national survey. It added that an expanded gender identity question would be tested in the CSO’s household surveys ‘with a view to potential incorporation into future censuses’.
A CSO spokesperson said ‘initial testing on question formats’ was included in the Equality and Discrimination module of the General
Household Survey for the first three months of 2019.
But, they noted, the sample size of 3,971 respondents used in the survey ‘can be insufficient to report any meaningful data on minority groups’.
The spokesperson added: ‘The necessity to ensure that a new question is adequately tested and assessed before inclusion in a census form meant that there was no scope to have this completed in time for the current census preparations.’
The CSO said Government approval on content for the 2022 Census was granted in July 2019, after which work on the ‘form layout, design and printing was under way’.
‘It’s a vital tool for planning purposes’
‘Addition of further questions not possible’