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There is still very little global data on gender identity for a simple reason: most countries do not collect it
Author of the article:
Washington Post
Miriam Berger, The Washington Post
Publication date:
April 28, 2022 • 1 day ago • reading in 4 minutes • 270 comments
Content of the article
One in 300 people aged 15 and over in Canada is identified as transgender or non-binary, according to recently published data from the 2021 Canadian Census, which offers the clearest picture of gender identity at the national level.
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The findings, which include data rarely collected in national censuses, provide a picture of evolving definitions of gender and sexual identity – increasingly embraced by young and urban people in Canada – at a time when LGBTQ rights and especially emerging policy awareness affecting transgender people have become a key battleground in political and cultural wars.
The Canadian National Statistics Agency documents a sharp division between the generations: younger populations are three to seven times more likely to identify as transsexual or non-binary than older ones.
Among Generation Z or people born between 1997 and 2005, 0.79% were identified as transsexual or non-binary. For millennials – born between 1981 and 1996 – the ratio is 0.51 percent. In contrast, only 0.15% of baby booms born between 1946 and 1965 chose transgender or non-binary, and 0.12% of people born in 1945 or earlier.
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The percentage is even higher among people aged 20 to 24, with almost 1 in 100 of them choosing transgender or non-binary.
The census registered 59,460 people in Canada aged 15 and over, identifying as transsexual and 41,355 as non-binary. Of these, the average age among transgender people is 39.4 years and 30.4 years for non-binary people. In contrast, 48 is the average age of nearly 30.5 million people in Canada aged 15 and over.
Just over half of non-binary people live in one of Canada’s six largest urban centers. They also report high living standards in urban centers. Just under half of transgender people say they live in the city’s six largest metropolitan areas, proportionally similar to the overall average for Canada.
Canadian officials said they had decided to add the new language to the census in response to the country’s efforts to expand the protection of LGBTQ people, along with a growing global focus on gender diversity.
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“These modifications reflect today’s reality with regard to the evolving acceptance and understanding of gender and sexual diversity and the emerging social and legislative recognition of transgender, non-binary and LGBTQ2 + people in general,” the statistics agency said in a statement.
Two spirits, represented by 2, is a common word in Canada used to describe a spectrum of gender among indigenous peoples.
Incorporating these changes has provided “official recognition of the idea that gender and gender are two different things,” said Neila Goshal, senior director of law, policy and research at OutRight Action International, a New York-based advocacy organization. LGBTQ. “I hope other governments will adopt similar policies. . . to recognize the growing number of people who see gender as somewhat fluid or do not feel like they fit into binary identification. “
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“We have been seen,” she added. “Gender is something people can talk about.”
The 2021 census asked participants their gender “at birth” and there was a separate question about gender. Respondents could mark male, female or other and then provide their choice. People who identify with the same sex they were born with are generally classified as cisgender.
“This data can be used by decision-makers, employers and providers of health care, education, justice and other services to better meet the needs of all men and women – including transgender men and women – and non-binary people. in their communities, “said a statement from Canadian Statistics.
There is still very little global data on gender identity for a simple reason: most countries do not collect it.
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The World Health Organization estimates that about 0.5% of the world’s population is transgender or identifies with a gender that is different from that which is strictly male or female. Studies in Belgium in 2020 show that 0.3 to 0.5% of adults and 1.2 to 2.7% of children and adolescents are identified as transsexual.
Other non-representative and crowdsourcing studies have reached largely similar figures, although Statistics Canada has warned against direct comparisons given the different measurement tools.
In 2021, the British census for the first time offered respondents the opportunity to indicate a gender other than male or female. The results have not yet been published.
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“Is the gender you identify with the same as your gender registered at birth?” The census asked.
No national census data are available for the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau first asked about gender identity and sexual orientation last year in the Household Heart Rate Survey, which measures the impact of the pandemic on households.
About 1.4 million adults in the United States identify as transgender and about 1.2 million as non-binary, according to research by the Williams Institute, a research center focused on laws of sexual orientation and gender identity and public policy.
In 2011, India included the choice of another in its national census for the first time. Pakistan will follow in 2017 and Nepal in 2021.
In many South Asian countries, communities have long adopted the concept of the third sex. However, some countries that allow the rights of transgender people maintain very restrictive or repressive rules against populations that do not identify as men or women.
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