Maya Forstater

But sex and identity are not the same thing and require separate questions. Biological sex is an important demographic variable needed to record & plan services and understand different population trends. @NatRecordsScot themselves say this

So the sex question should stay binary. Non binary people can express their identity in the trans question. Non binary people still have a physical sex. I note that non binary is listed as part of Stonewall's "trans umbrella". It's an identity.

Individual census returns remain confidential for 100 years. Many respondants might find other mandatory questions about illness, ethnicity & personal circumstances sensitive and difficult. But they answer them knowing their privacy is protected.

During evidence I asked @LGBTIScotland how @PippaBunce should answer the census sex question if they identified as woman one day and man the next. I was told they would be non binary. But Bunce still has a biological sex which would then not be recorded.

Recording birth sex is important to monitor sex discrimination and the Equality Act 2010. Women experience discrimination on the basis of biology, not how they identify (although trans people experience discrimination too, it is of a different type)

The census sets an important precedent. How can we defend the Equality Act, which clearly gives women protections based on biological sex, if we have said this definition of sex is irrelevant to our largest data gathering exercise?

Sex exemptions in the Equality Act are vital for privacy & dignity in shared spaces also "occupation exemptions" for jobs supporting vulnerable females. This matters as more men self ID as women while retaining male bodies and male genitals