Scotland’s SNP government has been branded ‘disconnected from the real world’ after allowing people to choose their gender from a list with 24 options.
Trans people in the country can choose from options including some more mainstream options like ‘trans man‘, ‘trans woman,’ ‘genderfluid’, and ‘androgynous’.
But among the two dozen options are other terms like ‘questioning’, where they do not yet know what gender they are, and ‘autigender’ which is described as ‘an autistic person (who) thinks about and relates to their gender label … in the context of autism.’
The list was attached last week to guidance for public bodies in Scotland who collect data on sex and gender. It allows them to classify freehand answers given to questions about trans status.
But it comes after First Minister John Swinney in July confirmed there were only two genders.
It comes after First Minister John Swinney in July confirmed there were only two genders.
Scottish Conservative shadow equalities minister Tess White MSP said: ‘The SNP need to stop playing to the minority and start governing for the majority by showing common sense and focussing on the real priorities of the people of Scotland.’
Appearing on BBC Radio Scotland’s Call Kaye in July, Mr Swinney said he believed there were only ‘two genders’ but he recognised others ‘take a different view’.
It came after the SNP leader tried to clarify widely-criticised comments he made in a previous BBC Radio 5 interview when he was asked how many genders there are, saying: ‘A woman is an adult born as a female and there are also transgender women.’
Scottish Conservative shadow equalities minister Tess White MSP said: ‘Wasting time and resources on this shows how disconnected the SNP government are from the real world and why people are sick of politicians at Holyrood failing to focus on issues that concern them.
‘The SNP need to stop playing to the minority and start governing for the majority by showing common sense and focussing on the real priorities of the people of Scotland.’
In details first reported by the Daily Telegraph, the list was added to 2021 guidance for public bodies, as the Scottish government updated the way information on sex and gender is collected ‘for operational, statistical and research purposes’.
Roger Halliday, the chief statistician, wrote: ‘It was clear that many organisations weren’t making conscious decisions about the question or questions to ask.
‘And very few organisations were collecting data to help better understand experiences and outcomes of trans people.
‘I found that even when data on sex and/or gender identity is collected, it is not always analysed, published or used in decision making. This clearly impacts on efforts to eliminate discrimination and promote equality.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The point of the survey is to collect information on the respondents’ trans history and how they would define it. It is therefore important that the survey is designed in such a way that allows that information to be captured.’
