Court ruling allows trans people to self-identify in upcoming Scottish census
Transgender people in Scotland can now self-identify in the country’s census without a gender recognition certificate. The decision comes after the Fair Play for Women group filed a complaint against the inclusive question.
In their filing, the anti-trans organisation argued that the government was practising “unlawful conduct.” On 17 February, judge Lord Sandison announced that he dismissed the conservative complaint – which was 14 days after the initial court hearing. “In the modern age, where social change has meant that such issues are much more openly and widely discussed and debated, I would find it impossible to find that the word ‘sex’ in a statute enabling the general population to be asked questions for the wide and general purposes for which a census is conducted falls to be regarded as restricted in the sense for which the petitioner contends,” he explained. “Rather, I would accept the suggestion that biological sex, sex recognised by law, or self-identified (or ‘lived’) sex as at the date of the census are all capable of being comprehended within the word.” LGBTQ+ activists have since come out to praise the court and its decision.
Vic Valentine, the manager of Scottish Trans Alliance, welcomed the ruling in a statement. “We are pleased that Lord Sandison has held that the guidance produced to go alongside the census is lawful.
Scotland’s census is meant to count everyone in Scotland as who they are on Census Day, and the guidance provided reassures trans men and trans women that this is the same for them as it is for everyone else,” Valentine said. “This is an important decision: clearly stating that all trans men and trans women are able to be counted on the census as who they are, not just those who have
