How I answered the census ‘gender’ question
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- Date published:
10:44 am, April 13th, 2023 - 77 comments
Categories: gender -
Tags: census, gender, gender identity, gender stereotypes, Laura Lopez, stats nz, transgender
Laura López is the mother of two girls and holds a graduate degree in psychology. She writes Arguments With Friends on Substack. Her work has been featured by Reality’s Last Stand, The Standard, Plain Sight, The Platform, Resist Gender Education, and Speak Up for Women New Zealand.
I don’t have a gender identity – and you probably don’t have one either.
New Zealand’s 2018 census was widely regarded as a failure, leading to the resignation of the Chief Executive of Stats NZ. This year’s census has also become mired in controversy. This time, the controversy is due to a poorly defined and confusing question about ‘gender’.
Outside of those who are well versed in the culture wars, few New Zealanders will have fully understood the meaning and implications of this question. But many people know instinctively that it doesn’t feel quite right. For those who care about responding honestly and accurately, answering this question is a minefield.
The information collected by the census is important, and I’d encourage everyone to complete it. I also support Stats NZ’s goal of collecting more data that can help agencies to serve New Zealand’s transgender population. However, Stats NZ needs to redesign how it achieves this goal.
What the census gets right
Unlike some surveys, the 2023 census asks respondents about their sex. Moreover, there are only two options – male and female. The census correctly asks about differences of sex development (also known as ‘intersex’ conditions) in a separate question. The census design thus avoids promoting the false idea that sex is a spectrum.
However, the census also asks people about their ‘gender’. And there are significant problems with the gender question.
The Stats NZ definition of gender is incomprehensible
The census defines gender as a “social and personal identity as male, female, or another gender”. But what does it mean to identify as “female” (for example) in this context? Clearly, the definition can’t be referring to identifying as biologically female, or else gender would just be a synonym for biological sex (which Stats NZ insists it is not).
Perhaps Stats NZ has defined gender more clearly elsewhere? If you Google, you can find the official Stats NZ definition of gender, which is:
Gender refers to a person’s social and personal identity as male, female, or another gender or genders that may be non-binary. Gender may include gender identity and/or gender expression.
Since this definition refers to ‘gender identity’, I looked up this definition as well. The Stats NZ definition of gender identity is:
Gender identity refers to a person’s internal and individual experience of gender.
These definitions are a complete mess. Gender is defined as a “personal identity” that is somehow distinct from gender identity. Gender might include gender identity, or it might not (as implied by the use of “and/or” in the Stats NZ definition of gender). And the Stats NZ definition of gender identity refers circularly back to gender.
The Stats NZ definition of gender also states that it might be based on your ‘gender expression’. The Stats NZ definition of gender expression is:
Gender expression refers to a person’s presentation of gender through physical appearance – including their dress, hairstyles, accessories, cosmetics, mannerisms, speech, behavioural patterns, names, and personal references. Gender expression may or may not conform to a person’s gender identity.
Read literally, this maze of definitions leaves it unclear whether the census gender question is asking about your “internal and individual experience”, or about your hairstyle. If a woman cuts her hair short, does that make her transgender? The Stats NZ definition of gender suggests that it might.
We should be able to read official statistical definitions literally, and have them make sense. As Stats NZ’s own survey design manual notes, “using language that is hard to understand, or overly technical and full of abbreviations and words that are not defined, makes it difficult for respondents to answer as intended”.
Confused definitions lead to confused data.
Unfortunately, Stats NZ’s confused definitions mean that census results relating to gender will be difficult to interpret. This is poor practice, and Stats NZ should be asked to do better.
The 2021 census of England and Wales should offer a warning to Stats NZ. This census was the first in the world to include a question about gender identity. It produced results that seem unreliable and difficult to believe. For example, it found that “one in every 67 Muslims is transgender”.
This and similar findings were likely due to widespread confusion about what the gender identity question meant. One of the strongest predictors of reporting a trans identity was having English as a second language.
What is gender (identity)?
While Stats NZ doesn’t provide a coherent definition of gender (other than suggesting that it might depend on your hairstyle), we can gain a bit of clarity by referencing other official sources.
For example, the World Health Organisation defines gender as the “norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy”. Similarly, Merriam Webster defines gender as “the behavioural, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex”—in other words, sex stereotypes.
Gender identity refers to the gender role that someone identifies with. For example, having defined “gender” to mean “gender role”, the World Health Organisation proceeds to define gender identity as “a person’s deeply felt, internal and individual experience of gender”. In other words, gender identity refers to an affinity with male or female stereotypes.
Confusingly, gender identity is often referred to as “gender” for short. In keeping with this, the census gender question appears to be asking about gender identity (and it would be a lot clearer if it was written accordingly).
It’s important to understand that adopting a gender identity does not mean identifying with your biological sex (or the opposite sex). Rather, as the World Health Organisation definitions imply, it means embracing a set of sex stereotypes.
If you’re not yet convinced of this, I highly recommend reading philosopher Kathleen Stock’s book Material Girls, which explains the origins of the concepts of gender and gender identity very clearly. Similarly, this article surveys the definitions of gender provided by a range of official sources, and my widely-shared article in Reality’s Last Stand shows how these concepts are explained to children in schools.
My experience has been that any definition of gender identity that claims not to be based on sex stereotypes quickly collapses under close examination.
Do I have a female gender (identity)?
I’m a woman, and I don’t consider myself to be transgender. Given this, I think it’s safe to say that Stats NZ expects me to happily tick the “female” gender box in the census.
Yet, like most women in New Zealand, I don’t embrace rigid female sex stereotypes. I grew up in Latin America, where machismo is still rife. The traditional female role involves sole responsibility for housework and caregiving, and a subservient position to men. I don’t want to define myself by this role.
Nor do I feel any deep inner sense of being female, other than being aware of my female body (i.e. my biological sex). Since I’ve never been a man, I don’t know how being male would feel. And if I was able to magically transform myself into a man, it seems logical that any different feelings I experienced would be caused by having male biology, or by how I was treated by society due to my biology.
The non-binary dilemma
So perhaps I don’t have a female gender identity – perhaps I’m non-binary? After all, I can relate to some female stereotypes and some male ones. And I’d like to think that I have some unique aspects to my personality that don’t neatly fit either male or female stereotypes.
It’s here that one of the central contradictions of gender ideology kicks in. While gender identity is supposedly a purely internal experience, it is also closely tied to real-world physical changes.
If I identified as non-binary, then I’d be expected to adopt non-standard pronouns (they/them, or perhaps zhe/zher). I would also be describing myself as a potential candidate for medical procedures to align my body with my new identity.
These body modifications could involve binding my breasts so tightly I could no longer breathe properly, and eventually having them surgically removed. Or they could involve having my genitals excised. Without these body modifications, it would be (falsely) supposed that I could never be happy, and might even commit suicide.
In identifying as non-binary, I would also be endorsing the idea that everyone else (who doesn’t identify as non-binary) is binary. That is, I would be implying that I expect them to fit rigid gender stereotypes.
None of this appeals to me. This is why I refuse to adopt any gender identity at all.
Am I agender?
So, since we’ve established that I have no gender identity, I can just answer the census gender question by choosing “Other” and writing “No gender”, right?
Unfortunately, if I did this, it could cause some confusion. In gender activist circles, having no gender identity makes you “agender” – neither a man nor a woman.
Like non-binary people, agender people are expected to use they/them pronouns. They are also considered candidates for genital nullification surgery, to “affirm” their lack of a gender identity. This is not really a category I want to put myself into.
When people write “none” in the census, Stats NZ will not know whether they consider themselves to be agender, or whether they reject the concept of gender identity altogether. The failure to distinguish between these two very different groups is a significant flaw in the design of the census.
The census gender question reflects a toxic belief system
The census gender question sits in the context of a broader political push by gender activists to replace biological sex with self-declared gender identity in law and society. One example is the incredibly unpopular drive to imprison male sex offenders in women’s prisons. Another is the offensive practice of forcing women to compete against males in sports. But the most damaging aspect of this political movement has been the needless medicalisation of children who don’t conform to sex stereotypes, with serious and lifelong health consequences. The damage to young New Zealanders has been especially profound.
Gender activism is animated by a toxic belief system known as gender identity theory, or gender ideology. According to this theory, what makes you a man or a woman is not your biology, but your gender identity (i.e. your subjective feeling of maleness or femaleness).
Belief in gender ideology is distinct from being transgender. Most advocates of gender ideology are not trans. And people can choose to medically transition despite rejecting gender ideology. In fact, people started medically transitioning long before gender ideology emerged. So we can (and should) accept trans people, while rejecting gender ideology as a belief system.
https://twitter.com/buttonslives/status/1641841790100570118
There are supernatural elements to some variants of gender ideology. Many adherents believe that gender identity is an ineffable essence or soul that everyone has, but only transgender people are truly in touch with (similar to the religious concept of being touched by the Holy Spirit). Some adherents even believe that a gender identity can transform human flesh, changing men into literal biological women (this is analogous to the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation). And true believers seek to damn those who question these doctrines as modern-day heretics.
Because it contains supernatural elements, gender ideology is essentially a religion. No one should be forced to endorse this belief system, in the same way that no one should be forced to endorse the beliefs of any other religion.
Gender ideology is the driving force behind the recent violence against women at the Let Women Speak event in Auckland. Similar incidents have occurred overseas. Many New Zealanders now recognise the alarmingly intolerant nature of gender ideology, and want nothing to do with it.
Unfortunately, the fingerprints of gender ideology can be found all over the census. For example, within gender ideology, biological sex is falsely characterised as arbitrary and changeable. We can see this reflected in the Stats NZ definition of sex, which claims that “a person’s sex can change over the course of their lifetime and may differ from their sex recorded at birth”. Similarly, the 2023 census asks for your “sex at birth”, implying that this might somehow be different from your sex now.
The signal sent by Stats NZ’s ‘Gender by default’ policy is also obvious. Under this policy, statistical reporting is based on people’s gender identities, and information about their sex is hidden most of the time. This policy thus implies that your gender identity is more important than your sex. I disagree with this premise, and I don’t want the data I provide to Stats NZ to be abused in this way.
Meekly completing the census in line with gender identity theory feels like endorsing gender ideology, and the political movement it has inspired. I refuse to do it.
A layer of deception
Whether accidentally or deliberately, the incoherent language and definitions used by Stats NZ serve a purpose.
For example, when the census asks for your ‘gender’, and not for your ‘gender identity’, the word gender feels reassuringly familiar. This is because it traditionally referred to biological sex (and is still understood this way by many people). Gender activists have redefined this word by stealth.
It would be easy for Stats NZ to avoid the ambiguous word ‘gender’, and say either ‘gender role’ or ‘gender identity’ depending on their intended meaning. But that would make the absurdity and radicalism of gender identity theory obvious.
New Zealanders deserve a higher level of transparency and honesty from Stats NZ.
Forcing compliance with gender ideology
The census provides no guidance for people who don’t believe that the concept of gender identity applies to them. I wrote to ask what I should do if I objected to the gender question:
Hi,
How can I respond to the question ‘What is your gender?’ In order for it to reflect that I don’t have a gender? I don’t believe in gender identity, which is the definition you are using for the term gender.
I object to this question, as there’s no option to truthfully answer it when you don’t uphold gender identity as a belief system.
Thanks,
Laura
I received the following response:
Hi Laura,
All census responses are recorded, stored, and output securely, following our confidentiality rules. We would encourage you to respond accurately to all census questions to best inform decision making for New Zealand. However if you prefer not to disclose your gender, we recommend giving a response only to gender, but not sex at birth.
Please do not hesitate to contact us, either via the online General Enquiries form or on the phone number below, if we can be of further assistance.
Kind regards
[Name redacted]
Customer Service Specialist
Toll free helpline 0800 CENSUS (0800 236 787)
This response is obvious nonsense. In my email, I clearly stated that I disagree with gender identity as a belief system. Yet the Stats NZ response presupposes that I do have a gender identity (which they imply that I want to hide). And then for inexplicable reasons, they suggested that I answer the question about gender and not the question about sex!
The census needs to change
Because the gender question in the 2023 census is confusing and poorly defined, data resulting from this question is likely to be misleading. It should be discarded, or at least interpreted with extreme caution. Data from the question about sex is likely to be much more meaningful and reliable, and it is this data that should guide important public policy decisions.
In future surveys and censuses, Stats NZ should avoid the use of the ambiguous term ‘gender’, replacing it with ‘gender identity’. It also needs to provide a clear, non-circular definition of what it means by gender identity. And it needs to provide meaningful advice on how people can respond to questions about gender identity if they disagree with gender ideology.
Ideally, future censuses would include a yes/no question asking whether people consider themselves to have a gender identity. Only those who say ‘yes’ should be asked to describe what that gender identity is. At the very least, Stats NZ needs to provide an explicit option for people to select if they don’t buy into gender ideology (e.g. “I don’t believe the concept of gender identity applies to me” or “I refuse to answer”).
Stats NZ has also said that if people leave the gender question blank, then they will fill in a response for them without their permission. This practice violates people’s right to ensure that data held about them is accurate. For people who reject the concept of gender identity, a blank response may be the most accurate answer. Stats NZ needs to find a different way around this problem (e.g. by classifying the person as non-transgender, without making any assumptions about their gender identity).
Future surveys can also obtain more useful information about the transgender population by asking directly about past and current use of cross-sex hormones – not just about gender identity. Asking about medical treatments received will provide data that is far more helpful for healthcare planning than subjective and ambiguous questions about identity (especially given the numerous health problems associated with taking cross-sex hormones).
Finally, the ‘gender by default’ policy needs to end, so that census data can easily be analysed by sex. We cannot just assume that gender identity is more important for outcomes than sex – only data can tell us that. To hide this data from researchers is enforcing ignorance in the name of protecting a sacred ideology. Such a policy has no place in a free, open, and secular society.
How I responded to the gender question
My response to the census gender question was “The concept of gender identity is not relevant to me”.
It is my hope that Stats NZ will not violate my rights, and corrupt the census data, by changing my response to mean something different. I believe the census is important, so I’ve put my faith in the system and completed it as best I can, despite my misgivings. Time will tell whether I’ve made the right decision.
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A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...5 days ago - Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...5 days ago - A speed limit is not a target, and yet…
This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...5 days ago
- The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...5 days ago - The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...5 days ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...6 days ago
- I'd like to share what I did this weekend
6 days ago - For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...6 days ago - A friend in uncertain times
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...6 days ago - The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers
Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...6 days ago - It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...1 week ago - Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...1 week ago - Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...1 week ago - Flooding Housing Policy
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...1 week ago - A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...1 week ago - The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...1 week ago - The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...1 week ago - Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...1 week ago
- Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...1 week ago
- Tobacco First
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...1 week ago - Trump’s Adopted Son.
Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...1 week ago - The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...1 week ago - The Hoon around the week to July 19
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...1 week ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024
Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...1 week ago
- Release: Charter schools to remove the rights of teachers
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...22 hours ago - Te iwi Māori will not stand for another Foreshore and Seabed
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...2 days ago
- Te Pāti Māori Acknowledge the Need for Fundamental Change in State Care
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...2 days ago
- National disgrace for children in poverty
Shifting the goalposts on child poverty is a new low for the National-led government. ...2 days ago
- Release: National disgrace for children in poverty
Shifting the goalposts on child poverty is a new low for the National-led government. ...2 days ago
- Government quietly waters down child poverty targets
The Government’s move to dilute child poverty targets is a reminder that it is actively choosing to preserve hardship for thousands of households. ...2 days ago - Release: National jumps on Labour’s trains
National is so short on ideas it is now announcing Labour’s rail announcement from a year ago, Labour transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...2 days ago
- Release: Opposition parties unite to protect ECE
Labour, the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori are uniting to stop the Government’s dangerous changes to the Early Childhood Education sector. ...2 days ago
- Release: Another step forward for survivors of abuse in care
Labour welcomes the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care’s final report and the government committing to a formal apology in November. ...3 days ago
- Govt must listen to experiences of abuse survivors
The Government must do all it can to bring abuse in care to an end following the release of the independent inquiry. ...3 days ago
- Release: Health New Zealand exposes Minister spinning in freefall
Health New Zealand contradicted the Government’s spin that back-office bureaucracy is the cause of overspend in the public health system. ...4 days ago
- Govt must act on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...4 days ago
- NZ Government Must Enforce ICJ Ruling
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...5 days ago
- Release: Listen PM, boot camps don’t work
Refusing to listen to evidence, experts or experience the Government is stubbornly marching ahead with its boot camps. ...7 days ago
- Release: Govt must act on ICJ ruling on illegal Israeli occupation
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...7 days ago
- Release: Rents up under National, promises fall flat
National Party policies which promised to put “downward pressure” on rents are having the opposite effect. ...1 week ago
- MSD figures show Govt determined to punish beneficiaries
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...1 week ago
- We need real solutions, not more failed boot camps – Willow-Jean Prime
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...1 week ago
- David Seymour is Unfit to Serve as Minister
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...1 week ago
- Renters suffer as soaring rents feed rising inflation
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...1 week ago
- National’s climate strategy undoes good progress
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...1 week ago
- Green Party releases executive summary of independent investigation
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...1 week ago
- Government back off track on climate action
Today’s Draft Emissions Reduction Plan shows the Government couldn’t care less about a liveable climate for all. ...1 week ago
- PM needs to step in over Shane Jones’ undeclared meeting
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...2 weeks ago
- Te Pāti Māori Opposes Three Strikes Amendment Bill
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...2 weeks ago
- Govt Determined to Make Aotearoa a Country of Disposable Renters
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...2 weeks ago
- Statement on retail crime Ministerial Advisory Group
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...2 weeks ago
- Statement from Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt Continues to Destructively Withhold Information
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...2 weeks ago
- Statement from Labour climate change spokesperson Megan Woods
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...2 weeks ago
- Eight ways National is making life harder for workers
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...3 weeks ago
- Waitlists up and workforce down under National
Health New Zealand’s recent quarterly performance report shows the public health system is going backwards under the National government. ...3 weeks ago
- Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...16 hours ago - AG reminds institutions of legal obligations
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...19 hours ago
- More young people learning about digital safety
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...20 hours ago
- Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...22 hours ago
- Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...24 hours ago
- Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...1 day ago
- Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...1 day ago
- Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...1 day ago
- Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...2 days ago
- Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...2 days ago
- Test for Customary Marine Title being restored
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...2 days ago
- Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...2 days ago
- Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...2 days ago
- Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...2 days ago
- Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...3 days ago
- PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...3 days ago
- Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...3 days ago
- Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...3 days ago
- Half a million people use tax calculator
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...3 days ago
- Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...3 days ago
- Rebuilding the economy through better regulation
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...3 days ago
- ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...3 days ago
- Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...4 days ago
- Accelerating Northland Expressway
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...4 days ago
- Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...4 days ago
- Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...4 days ago
- NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...4 days ago
- Backing mental health services on the West Coast
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...4 days ago
- NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...4 days ago
- Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...4 days ago
- Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...5 days ago
- Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...5 days ago
- Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...5 days ago
- Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...7 days ago
- Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...7 days ago
- Nine priority bridge replacements to get underway
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...1 week ago
- Update on global IT outage
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...1 week ago
- New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...1 week ago
- New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...1 week ago
- 'Pacific Futures'
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...1 week ago
- 'Enough is enough' – Chris Hipkins blasts government over Māori policies
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins says the coalition government is unfairly targeting Māori: "Each week they find new ways to keep Māori down." ...38 mins ago - Focus on Politics: Abuse in care report delivers demands for justice
The government has promised to listen to survivors, but how it responds and whether justice is served remains to be seen. ...6 hours ago
- Green AGM: Party processes will be respected on Darleen Tana issue, Chlöe Swarbrick says
A Green Party member is concerned that proper process will not be followed - but the party's co-leader says a vote will not be forced. ...6 hours ago
- Finally heard, seen – and believed
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...6 hours ago - Short story: Fire Engines, by Gina Butson
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...6 hours ago
- Alice Munro’s shocking silence
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...6 hours ago
- Re-writing the timeline of the universe
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...6 hours ago
- Anne Salmond: What track was that?
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...6 hours ago
- The Secret Diary of .. NZ’s Olympics hopefuls
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...6 hours ago
- The Weekend: If in doubt, go to the funeral
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...6 hours ago - ‘What a privilege’: Whitney from The Traitors NZ on life as a funeral director
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I left it blank.
I put a note that reliable information for NZ planning purposes such as education, health can not come from the results of such a question.
I wish I had added Visubversa's comnent on here that the question should have been put in the area of beliefs such as religion.
Or added some thing like cat gender, luna gender, flower gender
I saw the SUFW ideas too late.
https://www.speakupforwomen.nz/post/so-you-don-t-want-to-fill-in-the-census
I am aware I will have a gender assigned to me.
We are likely to get a result commensurate with garbage in and garbage out.
Sorry Guest Post but I saw the question as a simple question . How do I see myself?
Male or Female or Other. Tick. End of story.
To over think the question invites a wormhole entry. Just my view of course.
Not showing post on mobile
ah, will let Lynn know, thanks for the headsup. Can you see it on the desktop version on your mobile?
Yip
I can't see on mobile either, even in desktop mode. Ta.
Women having no gender ID will be news to those organisations consisting entirely of women that fought for gender equality.
you seem to be conflating gender identity and sex. Please clarify what you mean by 'gender identity', and what you mean by 'gender equality'.
The latter to me sounds like you are using gender as a synonym for sex and women who fought for women's (sex based) rights. Women didn't right for the right to be treated as stereotypes.
No. Women's organisations literally talked about gender equality. This is a fact of history. At the time women identified as the female gender.
The US Civil Rights Act 1964 refers to sex.
But after the book The Feminine Mystique and then the founding of NOW by the writer in 1966 – in 1967, Lyndon Johnson's executive order on the affirmative action hiring of employees by federal government – referred to gender.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_women_in_the_United_States
I don't know how old you are, but you have been in the gender/sex debate long enough to know this: gender is a word that historically has been used to mean sex. In the last decade it's become used to mean gender identity. Gender/sex and gender/gender identity are two different things.
This was even mentioned in the post.
Did you read the post?
It's not that simple.
Our passports and drivers licences have on them
gender m/f/x
do they not?
And people put on it their birth sex, or if not "cisgender", something otherwise (because National in 2009 passed legislation enabling this).
So it's an all in one meaning, is it not?
The idea that people born female, and who clearly believe that no one but a person born female can be a woman, are not themselves female by gender is a logical absurdity. And that is cult-like.
[please explain clearly what you mean by the word ‘gender’. I asked you above, now I’m insisting, for the clarity of the debate – weka]
NZ institutions and laws have also used gender to mean sex. This predates gender identity.
You'll have to rephrase that word salad, because I can't make any sense of it. Whose idea is that?
mod note.
That's because, almost 60 years ago, they were using gender to have a different meaning then it has today. People separated into groups by sex or gender gave identical groupings but sex was related to their physical being while gender related to their social/political being. It was a way of framing the context of the discussion.
Sure, which is why I posted 4 – it would be news to women of that time that they had no female gender identity.
But I would bet the writer has on her DL and passport – gender female.
can you please give some examples from 60 years ago so we know what you are referring to?
Wikipedia has a nice page on how gender evolved from it's meaning as terminology in describing language to it's use in academia to talk about the socio-political roles of women rather than the use of sex, as in the science/medical sphere, where it's about the biological nature of women. It's a more recent to talk about gender and sex being different ways of grouping people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender
I'll get grief but I didn't do my census this year because of the sexuality question.
If the government wants to know I'm gay they can ask me on Grindr.
But seriously, I'm openly gay but I felt disgusted that the government would ask me this question.
The human rights act says I don't have to tell any government agency what my sexuality was and I'm unwilling to give up that right just so the media can say x number of kiwis aren't straight.
For those who say the question is for funding programs to help LGBT+ people, I say so what?
Im in my 20s, I've used some of those LGBT organizations and they are some of the most toxic, dehumanizing bullying organizations I've ever been apart of full of upper middle class people who live in bubbles (and one org "accidentally" outted me while I was in high school, and I went to a very low decile high school and was bullied ruthlessly) I'd rather those organizations get less money, not more.
I wasn't willing to leave it blank either because then I'd be counted as "did not say" which LGBT+ orgs would assume was closeted and include in their stats.
I know so many people who just refused to answer for the same reasons, we didn't feel comfortable with our sexuality being asked, we didn't wanna get LGBT+ organizations more funding.
Keep the government out of the bedroom.
Does your approach mean the percentage of the population accepted to be gay will be down a smidgen?
Do you think there should there be no questions about gender?
I selected "prefer not to say", because I'm such a govt toady. Keep 'em guessing
Why do you think “government” has access to individual form records?
https://www.census.govt.nz/your-info/protecting-your-info/
It's the same misconception that the writer has – she also seems to believe that this is personal information held about them.
Misconceptions and (false) beliefs rule discourse, nowadays.
People who point this out are ignored, marginalised, ridiculed, smeared, vilified, or attacked but seldom listened to in a constructive and progressive manner.
Pundits and shock-jocks rule!
For my thoughts on SPC’s comment (5.3.1.1), please see my reply to Incognito below. My reply is comment number 11.2.2.
I just heard from a friend's female to male transtioning grandchild and he has refused to answer the gender question as well. 'What's this stuff going to tell us?' he said.
'What's this stuff going to tell us?' That's sort of funny really.
The stuff that they're going to get is going to tell them stuff. The stuff they don't get isn't going to tell them anything because they haven't got it.
I don't remember what was on the form but if there was a question asking if one was transgender and all the transgender people didn't answer that, 'they' would say "See, there are no transgender people, that there are is a myth."
Or, "We know there are transgender people but they've obviously haven't said so, so we'll take a punt. We reckon there are 61." Or if someone with a particular agenda is involved they might say there are 4, 321 or 43,210.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-does-the-census-say-there-are-more-trans-people-in-newham-than-brighton/
This article about the British census and gender question shows that Muslim and people with English as a second language have higher rates of transgenderism that people living in Brighton……
I think the English example exemplifies the garbage in garbage out concept I mentioned above.
Then for those who answered Luna gender
https://gender.fandom.com/wiki/Lunagender
How much further forward would they be……I sense nowhere in terms related to health, welfare, education, funding for anything?
Sociologists and other researchers will have lots of material to interrogate though while exploring this strange place we have got ourselves to.
An illuminating PoV on gender and gender ideology ("essentially a religion").
Up front, I (would prefer to) view 'anti-gender' and 'gender critical' as distinct PoVs, while acknowledging that there may be some overlap.
Surely most 'gender critical' people understand the concept/meaning of gender, and so would be able to answer the (census) question “What is your gender?” accurately, if they chose to do so. [Note that the 2023 NZ census did not force people to endorse the concept of gender.] Likewise 'anti-gender' people, although perhaps to a lesser extent.
Hmm; 'anti-gender (ideology)' people who accept trans people (and some rights?) may be a larger group than I imagined.
That's a good idea – then social and health planners could get a handle not only on the number of people who have a (religious?) belief that their gender identity is incongruent with their biological sex, but also what proportion of that minority population has used medical treatments to mitigate that (self-perceived) incongruency.
what do you mean by anti-gender?
It's pretty clear at this point that gender means a bunch of different and conflicting things and everyone is confused by its usage. I wrote about Kathleen Stock's explanation of the word gender and how it is used a while back,
.https://thestandard.org.nz/what-is-gender/
In fact the 2023 census allowed three options,
So technically, yes no-one was forced to say they had a gender, but there is no choice to have one's concept of not having a gender recorded. Self ID is only for some people.
Thanks for your question. The answer, given my limited and evolving understanding (as someone who is not 'anti-gender', nor a trans rights activist), is in two parts:
1. Definition of gender that makes sense to me; draws on some of Stock's definitions.
This definition is consistent with reality, and compatible with universal human rights (including rights of minorities), not to mention (at least some) gender critical PoVs.
2. "Anti-gender" then means: (a) a view that gender (as defined above) is not real, i.e. not evidence based, but rather is an imaginary set of human qualities/characteristics that cannot be perceived by any way of knowing (because they're not real.)
Also (narrower): (b) a view that specific consequences of belief(s) in gender and how it is constructed (see 1), particularly those that might undermine traditional and/or 'normal' sex-based characteristics, social roles and behaviours, are unnatural and so must be opposed and/or eradicated, as advocated by various anti-gender movements.
So I suppose that I mean more than one thing by 'anti-gender', which is hardly surprising given the range of meanings that have attached to 'gender.'
thanks for clarifying. Who would be some people that are anti-gender?
Some archetypal figures named in Wikipedia’s ‘anti-gender movements’ link, plus a couple of high-profile (US right-wing political) opportunists spring to mind:
Farida "year of the skirt" Belghoul
Jair "Trump of the Tropics" Bolsonaro
Ron "we fight the 'woke'" DeSantis
Andrzej 'the LGBT movement is "a foreign ideology"' Duda
Eva "working is a 'masculine' attribute" Herman
Donald "blood coming out of her wherever" Trump
These people are wedded to sex-based stereotypes – strict adherence to traditional gender roles is the ideal, with limited exceptions if any. Their views seem anachronistic, more in line with the Taliban than liberal democracies.
ok, but I think you are confusing things there.
If the anti-gender movements are that broad range of people organising in opposition to gender identity ideology, then there are two problems with your argument.
The wikipedia piece also is problematic because it used the term anti-trans feminist movement. If someone were making that argument here they'd be expected to provide evidence and make an actual argument, rather than starting with the a priori statement. I didn't click through though.
Thanks weka, I had previously questioned whether there was much overlap – seemed unlikely to me, and your first point reinforces this.
I'm sure you're right, and can see how my poorly-chosen link (for Trump) would be viewed as conflation. Fwiw, I'm currently clear in my own mind about the meaning(s)/definitions(s) of gender (see 8.1.1), gender identity, and (biological/genetic) sex in humans, and also clear that these words may mean different things (and possibly more than one thing) to different people. I have comments on TS to thank for this clarity.
As to the idea that there are anti-trans feminists, I don't think that there's much doubt that some trans people and trans activists hold that PoV. Certainly hope that it's (still) possible to find, if not common ground then at least a little middle ground as the culture wars grind on.
I liked the relatively brief period of time when feminists were using 'gender' for the stereotypes a society applies to the sexes. That was actually a useful distinction, in that it gave you a handy way to distinguish between differences that were a result of biological differences between male and female, and differences that were social inventions (eg "men don't breastfeed" vs "men don't cry"). There was plenty of room for dispute about the extent to which particular behaviours are social rather than evolved, but it was still a handy distinction.
Thanks to the postmodernists, 'gender' now mostly serves to try and obfuscate sex, hence the confusion described in the OP about what Stats NZ is asking and what it's trying to achieve. The circular definitions Stats NZ offers for its gender terminology are par for the course in govt depts now.
Well look at the goon that is the Minister responsible ( stats nz )…no surprises there
Agree with this
The confusion is also evident when the PM cannot answer 'What is a woman'. It has become a name that shall not be mentioned, or where the meaning will be erased altogether.
Perhaps there should have been two questions – what sex do you think you are and what sex do others think you are. Seriously, each census that comes out outdoes it's predecessor in b.s. ness. A road of old cobras, as a now deceased British comedian used to say.
You can think you are anything you like, but the truth about your sex is in almost every cell in your body. One drop of blood tells the truth, one smear of saliva, one hair bulb. They have done so since your conception and will do so until you death, and even after. The truth is in your bones, and even in your cremains.
Your phony, made up "gender identity" (Moongender anyone?) dies with you.
Human are very good at perceiving the sex of others. Especially female humans, it is a survival mechanism.
Thank you Laura for your write up.
From some reactions I take it they just thought census must mean -gender- as in sex
Not even wondering why would census ask the same question twice ? as in the census question: what sex is on my birth certificate.
Fact: NZ passport ask: Tane-Wahine/Sex
DL: has no sex on it (mine hasn't.)
SPC and Incognito: this is not about (concern of Laura for) personal information collection (if you had read it whole) its what the collection of information with confusing /can't answer questions does to data collection and its reliability (as the UK census has now shown).
This is data on which future governments make (budget) decisions.
And when you don't answer this specific question the computer programme does it for you….
One has to sign the census form at the end to confirm that one has answered it truthfully, and if you don't there is a considerable fine. I suspect it really depends how serious or not you take filling out the census.
that was the one for me. I take the census seriously and Stats were basically ensuring that people lied or Stats would lie for them.
Here you go:
It is an inaccurate statement based on a misconception. The Guest Author clearly did not do her fact-checking properly. This is not a ‘crime’, just something that can do with a clarifying correction, which is what SPC and I have attempted. SPC has gone silence, for some reason …
While it is not personal information that is the type directly covered in the Privacy Act it is personal information that is amalgamated up & down by/to mesh block into data that is often used in the formulation of govt & local authority policy and therefore the subsequent allocation of finance. At the time it gets to mesh block this personal information not assigned by name but you can get quite detailed info about age, occupation, time in NZ, ethnicity, religion etc.
https://datafinder.stats.govt.nz/layer/106729-meshblock-2022-generalised/
There are around 53,500 mesh blocks in NZ. Each mesh block contains 30-60 households.
I thought author felt, as I do, that this is a badly worded question likely to produce information that is not fit for purpose or what some call garbage. A person should have a remedy if personal information sought is misleading when sought and so is likely to mislead once it is amalgamated . A person concerned about giving one bit of information that may be wrongly construed in the making of Govt or local body policy as a whole should be commended and not chastised.
I am not expecting that you will accept with this but others may be interested in the relatively small numbers that are in a mesh block and how easily misleading questions, can become misleading answers leading to misleading data.
In times gone by WCC gave (generous) insulation subsidies around my suburb based on mesh block plus data from the property files. Sociologists/historians often work in mesh block size.
SPC did their explanations no good by seeming to conflate sex and gender which rather misses the point of what the Guest Poster was saying. SPC when asked did not define what gender was in their terms.
People also had to sign it as being correct and if it is not why should be do this. If it is then forced on one by another (ie Stats) then this is bad.
I first posted on 4 that feminists of the past had no problem recognising themselves as of the female gender. This is a simple fact.
I did so because, regardless of the "war" between the only those born female can be women group and those who seek access to women's spaces without being born female, most people have no problem with birth sex female/gender female and birth sex male/gender male and thus filled out the census form with scarce a thought to the war between two minorities going on around them.
Hi Incognito,
Thanks for raising this interesting point.
First up, a couple of points for clarity:
That said, on their website, Stats NZ makes it very clear that your responses to the census are personal information.
https://www.census.govt.nz/your-info/
The fact that they are able to provide you with your personal information is a pretty clear indicator that they hold it on file with your identity attached. As is this:
https://www.stats.govt.nz/methods/security-privacy-and-confidentiality-of-census-data
And this:
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/how-stats-nz-looks-after-your-information
It’s thus possible that people’s identifiable census information could be released, either maliciously or accidentally (although I’m confident that this risk is very small). Stats NZ seem to acknowledge this:
https://www.stats.govt.nz/methods/security-privacy-and-confidentiality-of-census-data
Finally, Stats NZ also say:
https://www.census.govt.nz/your-info/
I read this as a polite way of saying that if you provide incorrect information in the census, or it becomes outdated, you don’t have the right to go back and correct it. This seems reasonable, since having multiple different versions of the census data floating around could cause all sorts of issues.
However, you could make a case that for Stats NZ to add unverified and/or inaccurate information into someone’s census record against their will is mishandling their information, at least from an ethical point of view.
Again, I’d emphasise that I’m not a lawyer, and my comments relate to the ethics of Stats NZ’s actions rather than their legality. However, I’d be interested to hear the views of people who do have relevant legal expertise.
👏
your comments are still getting caught in the first commenter filter (I can’t see any typos in your name or email, which would also trip the filter). I will let lprent the sysop know. It’s an occasional bug although I haven’t seen it in a long time.
Thanks weka for looking into this.
I wonder if the system is having trouble with the accent in my name. When I try to leave a comment, it defaults to:
Laura López
…as my name, and then I manually correct it. Maybe if I just left it alone it would work better? But then I'm not sure whether it would display correctly.
Thank you Laura for the original article and the clarifcation.
In some jurisdictions UK/USA after 80/100 years the census returns are made public. This is for genealogical purposes. You can find a name, click on it and see a transcript of the reply and usually see the completed forms. At the moment you can access the US 1940 census and a 1939 habitation index in the UK. Work is being done on transcribing censuses from the 1920s UK & Ireland.
US quote from
https://www.familysearch.org/1940census/
"Index and images of population schedules listing inhabitants of the United States in 1940. This was the sixteenth census conducted since 1790. There were 134 million individuals enumerated this census year. The schedules cover the 48 states as well as Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Panama Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The index is being created by FamilySearch, BrightSolid, and Inflection."
1939 Register UK
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/1939-register/
There are deletions made on this register as it was used by UK NHS and access is closed to data on individuals born less than 100 years old unless these folk have died.
NZ has never allowed (from memory) this census data to be sold. In some cases the original papers have been pulped/destroyed once the data has been collected. It does allow greater access to current electoral roll data than some jurisdictions though with current copies available at libraries for genealogists. Many Govt depts use data from electoral rolls, valuation indices in their day to day work.
My hope is that census questions will be relevant and clear. Stats seemed to have captured themselves with current trends without being especially clear on the rationale for doing this.
Once again thank you.
p.s. I still can't see my article on my phone (unless I switch from 'Mobile' to 'Desktop' view, which makes it very difficult to read). I know you asked someone to look into this yesterday. It'd be great if it could be fixed.
I've tried leaving my name as "Laura López" to see what happens.
Your name had the accent typo in it. I’ve edited it to without hte accent to see what happens on your next comment.
The mobile bug is an ongoing issue without an immediate fix I’m afraid. I’ll email Lynn when I get the chance.
Thanks weka for looking into this. A lot of people prefer to read on their smartphones these days, so The Standard is probably missing out on a fair bit of traffic due to this issue.
This time, my name defaulted to:
Laura López
I've tried entering it without the accent.
Source:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/265782/devices-of-choice-for-receiving-online-news-in-the-us/
afaik, it's a periodic known issue. Sysop fixes it as it arises. In this case, it wasn't all posts, so I'm not sure what is going on. Lprent, the sysop has been notified.
The post should be visible on the mobile version now. Please let me know if it's not on your device.
ok, it turns out the problem is with the wordpress editor when it embeds tweets. There's not short term fix for this other than to not embed the tweet. I've made a screenshot of the tweet and put that in the post and put a plain, clickable link for the tweet under it. Best I can do at this point (Lprent will find a better fix long term as he works on the site).
This matters for posts going forward too (use images of tweets and supply a link). I will have to get used to this myself because I use a lot of tweets in post 🙁
Legislation from 2009 came into effect in 2012 as the NZH reported in 2012.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/x-marks-the-spot-on-passport-for-transgender-travellers/OAH7D5ETJDSUKUTDL5C452CLGQ
https://privacy.org.nz/tools/knowledge-base/view/498
Note the use of sex/gender
PS
Te Aka Maori dictionary
Tane – husband, male, man.
Wahine – female, women, feminine.
https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=wahine
yes, the NZ government is conflating sex and gender and causing a lot of confusion.
According to wikipedia, the current NZ passport uses the word sex.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_passport
Allowing trans people to choose which sex marker is recorded is a social/legal fiction to make the lives of trans people easier. It doesn't mean that sex = gender, and it doesn't mean that someone literally changed sex.
The passport using the word sex after tane/wahine, and allowing people to make a gender change declaration to change this from their birth sex seems to be part of a pattern – it has been around since the 2009 legislation and into effect 2012.
The 2008 legislation (updated 2021 to allow something closer to self ID) allowed Declarations of Family Court to determine the sex to be shown on birth certificates issued for adults.
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2008/0048/latest/DLM1250720.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/131421129/georgina-beyer-an-outstanding-example-of-the-potential-of-humanity
"…Crown Law determined it was already included as discrimination based on sex."
An excellent illustration of "the NZ government is conflating sex and gender and causing a lot of confusion."
It also helps explain why Weka and I had someone on Twitter the other day trying to tell us men can use female-only spaces because the HRA prevents discrimination against their gender identity. The confusion is real.
Found the Crown Law advice:
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/SG%20Opinion%202%20Aug%202006.pdf
How things have changed in the last 17 years! CLO considers "discrimination" against trans-identified people in the usual terms, eg can't be dismissed from your job if you transition. The idea that expecting male adults claiming a feminine identity to keep out of female-only spaces is "discrimination" doesn't feature, presumably because people at the time would have recognised it as batshit crazy.
I did like this bit:
Funnily enough, no-one seems to mention that opinion.
The DSM does provide a way to catalogue society change in attitudes towards issues such as homosexuality and gender identity.
Homosexuality is in DSM 1 and 2, then in 3 and 4 in another form and goes entirely by DSM 5 in 2013.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_the_DSM
But in the change in categorisation of homosexuality they did this in 1980
Instead of just eliminating homosexuality they did this
Then it was on its own
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_dysphoria
I didn't sign my Census forms. I wrote a letter saying that I could not sign it because it did not permit me to tell what I believe to be the truth.
I said that as a retired Justice of the Peace with nearly 30 years service, I know that signatures on an official from mean something and that is why I had not signed it,
💜
Good on you Visubversa.
Perhaps the different ways that people have chosen to address this issue will keep Stats on their toes ie they won't be able to formulate a date extraction policy without some difficulty as different people have chosen not to answer this in different ways. Dealing with exceptions often focusses the minds of those having to do it on why are they incurring additional costs and could we do better next time.
Hopefully Stats will be able to competently review itself on the census and this won't be repeated. I live in hope.
Whatever they do it should be aimed at ensuring that Corey and my friend's transtioning grandson can clearly see the benefits of being part of the census answering community.
Having woolly questions such as the gender one, this was the one that the grandson got as far as answering before putting it to one side.
Is this Kiwiblog? Just wondering, because we are talking here about a single question on the Census as if it's a nefarious conspiracy by a far left cabal.
Rather that a simple botch of a complex issue, as demonstrated by Chippy the other day when he was asked "What is a woman?"
The wider question IMO is what is happening in society that the last 2 censuses (censii??) have had such poor response rates. That could be a fruitful avenue for statistical enquiry.
I surmise that trust in government and social cohesion have been on a downward trajectory for 40 years and now we are reaping the ugly fruit of Rogernomics. The worst affected being Māori and Pasifika communities.
Confusingly worded questions are annoying but homelessness and poverty and social dislocation are probably the main drivers. Conspiracy thinking is an understandable response to the trauma of living in deeply unequal society where the poor are routinely abused and despised
I wish it was a single botched question. It doesn’t have to be a conspiracy, it’s just the government quietly shifting from sex stars to gender as default, enforcing gender identity ideology, and upholding No Debate that undermines women’s sex based rights.
see also https://thestandard.org.nz/should-the-government-replace-sex-data-with-gender-identity-data/
yes, there are a lot of important issues. I’m not sure we can win them if we give up material reality.
roblogic,
Excuse me weka,but it’s gone weird again.
looks like you inadvertently clicked on one of the tag buttons in the comment editor.
Sorry,you can delete the orginal mess,Ta
roblogic,
Please forgive me weka. Why didn't the then minister of Stats James Shaw not fill out the census on or before the 5th of march 2017,yes I know and will try and link to a truncated news item view on RNZ. He was in the Cook Islands with the then PM,but his department where going around rest homes telling anybody who would or could listen "that the form/s could be fill anytime up to that date,as for this year as well.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018634834/statistics-minister-shaw-confident-of-census-success
Agree with Weka above. It is not a conspiracy and neither is it a 'war between two minorities going on around them.'
The Govt has much longer reach and most/many would accept unquestioningly the word or the right by the Govt to word (skew) things as they chose.
However the quote generally ascribed to Thomas Jefferson 'the price of freedom is eternal vigilance' is apt. I like to think that TS plays a role in this.
I cant remember what I amswered now. I do know that under race I entered homo sapiens sapiens. the fracturing of sexuality and politicisation in post modern life is nauseous.
Yes RP Mcmurphy you are correct.
My concern is also that the ability to use the census as a high quality tool for population based data for health, education and MSD planning is being jeopardised by ill-thought out questions that just irritate people so much that they cannot be bothered answering.
Then, despite objections, we have personal data assigned to us naughty ones by Stats. So possibly inaccurate and definetly not personal info is agglomerated by Stats from the genders they have assigned to us.