The extra genders

Introduction

In October 2024, the Scottish Government’s Chief Statistician published a Coding Framework, providing public bodies with guidance on how to collate any write-in responses to survey questions on trans status. The framework, which listed 24 genders, prompted extensive media coverage and political interest, as well as high-profile public ridicule. This blog suggests that the Minister’s explanation to the Scottish Parliament as to how the framework was constructed does not stand up to scrutiny. It also raises questions about the use of public funds, government priorities, and access to government.

The ‘most common’ census responses

On 31 October, in a parliamentary question, Conservative MSP Rachael Hamilton asked about the Scottish Government position on the list of 24 genders. The response from SNP Equalities Minister Kaukab Stewart is shown below (emphasis added).

Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con)
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how many genders there are.

The Minister for Equalities (Kaukab Stewart)
The Scottish Government’s position is that of the law. In law, people are either male or female.

Rachael Hamilton
I am pleased to hear that Kaukab Stewart agrees with the First Minister that there are two genders but, in official guidance that was published this month, the Scottish National Party Government claimed that there are dozens of different genders—I repeat, dozens. That does not make sense to people in mainstream Scotland. It seems ridiculous for that issue to be the Scottish Government’s focus. Why is the Scottish Government wasting so much time and resource on fringe obsessions?

Kaukab Stewart
The Scottish Government did not claim that. The Scottish Government recently updated its guidance for public bodies on collecting data on sex and gender to include a coding framework for free-text responses. The framework is there to help official statistics producers to categorise people who identify as trans and have completed an open-response question about their trans status. The categories were developed on the basis of the most common responses to the question in the 2022 census. The framework should not be interpreted to mean that there are a particular number of genders; it should be used only as a guide to classify responses to the recommended trans status question in surveys.

In the recording of the exchange, the Minister appears to precede her second response with a hesitant nervous giggle.

Comparing data frameworks and categories

Whilst some of the terms in the coding framework, for example, ‘non-binary’, are relatively well-known, others such as ‘autigender’ or ‘demigender’, are not. As such, Ms Stewart’s assertion, that the “categories were developed on the basis of the most common responses to the question in the 2022 census” felt surprising.

To better understand how the Chief Statistician’s office had constructed the framework, we compared it with the write-in responses to the trans status question in the 2022 census, published by the National Records of Scotland (NRS). We also looked at how NRS had grouped the census data. The NRS data can be accessed here and is also reproduced in Annex 1.

NRS coding framework for census trans question write-in responses

As shown in Annex 1, NRS used a coding framework to organise the write-in responses to the trans status question. This grouped the 49 different self-descriptions given by individual respondents into five high-level categories (Trans man, Trans woman, Non-binary person, Trans-status: not specified, Other trans status or history). Note that the published census data only includes responses where there are ten or more instances.

Scottish Government ‘Coding Framework for Trans Status Question Free Text Response Question’

The Scottish Government coding framework provides three different suggested groupings, for any free text responses that public bodies gather in response to questions about trans status. The simplest suggests 3 categories [Yes, No, Not stated]. Another has 7 categories, and is similar to that used by the NRS [Not trans and does not have a trans status, Trans man, Trans woman, Non-binary person, Trans status: not specified, Other trans status or history, Not stated]. The final one issued by the Scottish Government, however, has 27 categories [No, Cisgender, No recognised trans status, Trans man, Trans woman, Non-binary, Trans – not otherwise specified, 19 individual genders, Not stated]. This is the list that has attracted attention.

Below, Table 1 presents data on the categories proposed by the Scottish Government in its largest grouping (we exclude the ‘No’, ‘No recognised trans status’, and ‘Not stated’ categories). The Table sets out how the Scottish Government defines the 24 remaining categories, and states which of these correspond with those in the NRS framework. Using the raw data published by the NRS, the Table then shows the number of respondents to the census who described themselves using the terms in the Scottish Government framework, or a variation on those.

Table 1. Scottish Government Coding Framework for write-in responses to the trans status question, compared to Scotland’s 2022 census write-in responses

Scottish Government coding framework	Scottish Government definition of terms	Term used in 2022 census coding framework	Term found in 2022 census raw data	Number of 2022 census respondents using term	Number of 2022 census respondents using variation on term	TOTAL
Cisgender	Denoting or relating to a person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex registered for them at birth; not transgender. Often shortened to “Cis”.	No	No	0	0	0
Trans man	A person who was registered as female at birth but who lives and identifies as a man; a transgender man. “ftm” is a shortened version of this.	Yes	Yes	2,025	391	2,416
Trans woman	A person who was registered as male at birth but who lives and identifies as a woman; a transgender woman. “mtf” is a shortened version of this.	Yes	Yes	1,916	332	2,248
Non-Binary	Denoting, having, or relating to a gender identity that does not conform to traditional binary beliefs about gender, which indicate that all individuals are exclusively either male or female. Can often be shortend to “nb” or “enby”.	Yes	Yes	6,190	235	6,425
Trans – not otherwise specified	Denoting or relating to a person whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them at birth; transgender.	Yes	Yes	41	0	41
Agender	Denoting or relating to a person who does not identify as having a gender.	No	Yes	100	10	110
Trans masculine	An umbrella term that refers to people who were assigned female at birth but identify more with a masculine identity.- Often shortened to “Trans masc”.	No	Yes	46	39	85
Trans feminine	People who were assigned male at birth but identify more with a feminine identity.	No	No	0	0	0
Genderfluid	Denoting or relating to a person who does not identify as having a single unchanging gender. Also referred to as “Transfluid”.	No	Yes	333	0	333
Genderqueer	A gender identity that is other than male or female, is a combination of the two genders, or is on a continuum between the two genders.	No	Yes	103	27	130
Questioning	A tentative gender identity label for a person who is in the process of figuring out how to describe and label their gender identity, but has reason to think that they might be transgender or nonbinary.	No	Yes	22	0	22
Intersex	A term used to describe people born with physical sex characteristics that do not fit typical definitions of male or female. Intersex people may have chromosome combinations that are different than XY (usually associated with male) and XX (usually associated with female).	No	No	0	0	0
Assigned female at birth – not specified	Refers to a person who was assigned the sex of female at birth. It is one of the terms used to describe the sex assigned to a child at birth, most often based on the child’s external anatomy. Often shortened to “AFAB”.	No	No	0	0	0
Assigned male at birth – not specified	Refers to a person who was assigned the sex of male at birth. It is one of the terms used to describe the sex assigned to a child at birth, most often based on the child’s external anatomy. Often shortened to “AMAB”.	No	No	0	0	0
Pangender	A gender identity that is not limited to one gender. A person with this identity may feel that their identity encompasses all possible genders at once, including traditional binary genders (male and female) and nonbinary genders. Can also be known as “Omnigender”, “Multigender” or “Trigender”.	No	No	0	0	0
Bigender	Denoting or relating to a person whose gender identity encompasses two genders.	No	No	0	0	0
Autigender	Identifies that an autistic person thinks about and relates to their gender label—or lack of gender label—in the context of autism.	No	No	0	0	0
Androgynous	Refers to individuals who have a blend of both masculine and feminine characteristics. They may identify as being between female and male, or as neither feminine nor masculine.	No	No	0	0	0
Gender non-conforming	Denoting or relating to a person whose behaviour or appearance does not conform to prevailing cultural and social expectations about what is appropriate to their gender.	No	Yes	19	0	19
Detransitioned	The cessation or reversal of a transgender identification or of gender transition, temporarily or permanently, through social, legal, and/or medical means. Also referred to as “ex-trans”.	No	No	0	0	0
Neutral	Refers to individuals who have a neutral gender identity or expression, or who identify with the preference for gender neutral language and pronouns.	No	No	0	0	0
Demigender – female	Someone who only partially (not wholly) identifies as a girl or woman, whatever their assigned gender at birth. They may or may not identify as another gender in addition to feeling partially a girl or woman. May also use the terms demigirl, demigal, demifemale or demiwoman..	No	No	0	0	0
Demigender – male	Someone who only partially (not wholly) identifies as a boy or man, whatever their assigned gender at birth. They may or may not identify as another gender in addition to feeling partially a boy or man. May also use the terms demiboy, demiguy, demimale or demiman.	No	No	0	0	0
Demigender – not otherwise specified	Demigender is an umbrella term for nonbinary gender identities that have a partial connection to a certain gender. It describes someone who identifies partially with one gender.	No	No	0	0	0
TOTAL				10,795	1,034	11,829

The extra genders

Table 1 shows that only four of the Scottish Government’s coding categories correspond with those developed by NRS in its framework for coding census responses (Trans man, Trans woman, Non-Binary, Trans not otherwise specified).

More remarkably, only ten categories in the Scottish Government framework can be found anywhere at all in the detailed census data. As further shown in Annex 1, there are no published instances of respondents describing themselves as pangender, demigender, bigender, autigender, neutral, or other terms shown on the table. Put another way, the Scottish Government appears to have added fourteen categories that are not found anywhere in the census data (while not including some that are). Added categories include the contested term ‘cisgender’, and ‘intersex’, which the Scottish Government previously accepted should not be treated as a transgender identity.¹

It is still possible that some, but fewer than ten, census respondents described themselves using the terms found only in the Scottish Government coding framework. But that sits awkwardly with Ms Stewart’s description of the government framework as based on the “most common” census responses. Even the published census data (of ten or more instances) shows very few census respondents using some of the terms. For example, among the Scottish adult population, only nineteen census respondents described themselves as ‘gender non-conforming’, and twenty-two as ‘questioning’.

What is the purpose of the Coding Framework

Our analysis suggests that in constructing its coding framework, rather than drawing on the census as claimed, the Scottish Government actively departed from the approach taken by the NRS to the census results. Instead of taking its lead from the simple NRS framework, the Scottish Government expanded on the broad ‘other trans status or history’ category, used by NRS to group very small numbers of responses (from 699 people across Scotland in total). Inexplicably, the government decided that information on numerous further subcategories for gender identity might be usefully collected and meaningfully coded by Scotland’s public bodies, including 14 categories which are not even found in reported write-in responses to the census. We are not aware of any rationale nor an audit trail for this decision.

It is a core principle of data collection that it should have a clear purpose. In the public sector, where all data collection comes with costs, including gathering and processing, there should be a public value in the data collected; it should have a clear potential use.

On many issues, there is a constant battle between campaign groups, researchers, and public bodies about how much information the latter are willing to use their resources to collect. Campaigners can spend years lobbying for more granular data on demographic characteristics or experiences on issues related to health, education, housing, criminal justice and a host of other topics, to be turned away on grounds of cost, additional complication, and arguments about limited practical use.

As noted above, the Equalities Minister told the Scottish Parliament that the framework was intended “to classify responses to the recommended trans status question in surveys”. But this fails to address why public bodies would want to do this at the level of detail the Scottish Government suggests. What does the Scottish Government believe is the public value in knowing that a person describes themselves specifically as genderfluid or autigender?

This is not an argument against collecting any data here. There has been substantial lobbying in recent years to redesign public services to respond to those who would prefer to be treated as if they were the opposite sex, or were neither sex. Collecting data on the number of people who are actually in those groups, independently of lobbyists, makes sense. Equally, public bodies might want to understand how far the experience of people in these groups differs from the more general population. Sometimes they may be required to do so under the Equality Act, to fulfill their legal obligations in relation to the protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’. There is also a good argument for capturing data on detransitioners, as a group shedding specific light on the wider phenomenon here, and likely to have distinct needs. Whether this is best done as a sub-category of transgender identity is a separate question, however.

There is, however, a strong argument against using public funds to develop, and then apply, a detailed coding framework that gives weight to barely-used esoteric terms coined on Tumblr. As noted above, the most comprehensive data collection exercise conducted in Scotland, the census, reported just 699 people nationwide using terms outwith the main ‘transgender’, ‘trans man’, ‘trans woman’, and ‘non-binary’ categories.

What does the Scottish Government believe?

The Scottish Government strenuously denies that it believes that there are 24 genders. That misses the point. By creating the framework, the Scottish Government is saying, consciously or not, that it believes in all these terms enough to think it is worth public bodies collecting data on them. Otherwise, it would be guiding them to collect data that it believes to be meaningless and/or useless.

Whatever Scottish Ministers may actually believe, the framework appears to provide further evidence of the privileged access to the Scottish Government enjoyed by those who promote the sort of language and concepts in the list above, and their ability to persuade the Scottish Government to use its resources to promote these across the public sector. For public bodies that are susceptible to gender identity ideology, such as Police Scotland, an oven-ready list of gender identities rubber-stamped by Scottish Government is likely to be particularly appealing, irrespective of its value or purpose.

One thing seems clear from the analysis above. The Minister’s claim that “The categories were developed on the basis of the most common responses to the question in the 2022 census” misled the Scottish Parliament.

Notes

1. The Scottish Government previously sought to include ‘intersex’ under the ‘trans’ category in the Census (Amendment) (Scotland Bill). In response to evidence from dsdfamilies, it subsequently removed all references to ‘intersex’ people, agreeing that there was no justification for singling out this group, compared to any other group of people sharing a specific type of medical history.

Annex 1. Write-in responses coded to a high-level trans status or history category, Scotland’s census 2022

1. Includes responses from people coded to one of five high-level trans categories: trans man, trans woman, non-binary, trans status: not specified and other trans status or history.
2. Excludes: people not coded to one of the five main categories; people who only provided a tick response and no text; text responses coded to ‘not stated’; and responses coded to ‘No – not trans and does not have a trans history’.
3. When coding responses manually, both the tick box and write-in text response provided were considered. For example, if a person wrote ‘man’ and ticked ‘no’, they were coded to ‘not trans and does not have a trans history’. If a person wrote ‘man’ and ticked ‘yes’, they were coded to ‘trans man’.”
4. Data cannot be used to calculate the totals for trans status categories as it does not include text provided by fewer than 10 respondents or imputed records which are included in standard published outputs.
5. Where responses include more than one distinct category NRS used a first codable response methodology. For example, for trans status or history, a response of ‘non binary trans man’ was categorised as ‘non-binary’ only.