1/ The idea of non-binary passports could seem trivial. But this is part of a campaign to remove sex as a category in law and data collection. This was clear in the recent battle over sex in the census. ihttps://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/f728d27a-e28b-11eb-a821-58982b1c936d
2/ The argument was initially accepted by the Methodological Assurance Review Panel that the sex marker on documents issued by the state, such as passports, must be seen as valid for the purposes of the census. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…
3/ Yet when the passports office decided to allow people to change the sex marker on their passport without a change of legal sex, there was no parliamentary scrutiny of this decision, and no discussion of wider implications for data collection.
4/ No doubt the change was presented as trivial "just admin" with no wider effects. The passport office has been unable or unwilling to reveal how many passports have had their sex markers changed without a GRC.
1/ Nancy Kelley, CEO of Stonewall likens "gender critical" beliefs to anti-Semitism. The core tenets of the beliefs that she objects to are that sex is real and that it matters. The only motivation for this crass comparison is to justify #nodebatebbc.co.uk/news/uk-572814…
2/ Recall that Nancy Kelley was involved in no-platforming me for arguing that sex should be measured accurately in the 2021 Census. thetimes.co.uk/article/stonew…
3/ The reason gender identity extremists invoke anti-Semitism, fascism and Holocaust-denial is simply so that they can bring "no platform for fascists" into play. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…
1/ Good to see @acas has withdrawn from the Stonewall Diversity Champions scheme. ACAS collects data on the gender pay gap, and all employers with over 250 staff must report this. But they advise firms to collect data on gender identity, not sex thetimes.co.uk/article/stonew…
2/ and people who identify as "non-binary" are omitted from the data. Yet "gender pay gap" reporting was intended to monitor discrimination based on sex. spectator.co.uk/article/Corona…
3/ At the level of the firm, even small numbers of cases misclassified or omitted can skew the data substantially. We need accurate data on sex, and data on gender reassignment (a distinct protected characteristic) could be collected additionally. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…
1/ UCU free speech survey🧵. It is not good practice to invite people to take part in a survey by telling them what their views should be. One likely effect is to dissuade those who disagree with you from participating, thus biasing the results.
2/ Questions are highly disclosive, taken together they would give a high risk of identifiability. Although questions are optional, this isn't made clear. Given that the ruling faction in the union is hostile to some members, leading to low trust, these considerations are
3/ important. Some reassurance should have been provided that the data and analysis would be handled independently, both to ensure ethical treatment of the data and impartial data analysis.
2/ 80 quantitative social scientists wrote to the census authorities explaining our concerns. The arguments and scientific consensus could not have been clearer. parliament.scot/General%20Docu…
2/ We often hear it claimed that there is no such thing as a crisis in academic freedom, cancel culture is a myth, etc. This paper demonstrates that there is a serious problem with academic freedom regarding the ability to discuss sex, gender and gender identity.
3/ The problem is fundamental and far-reaching. Inevitably so, given that sex is a vital concept across the human and social sciences and the humanities. Gender identity extremists are succeeding in making it difficult for academics to talk about and collect data on sex.
Letter in the Times today from quantitative social scientists. "We are on the brink of losing robust, high quality data on sex in the UK. Once gone, we may never get it back".
Story in the Times by @mikewadejourno "Plans to ignore biological sex when collecting census data in favour of self-defined gender threaten to undermine robust statistics in a move that is creating “deep-seated alarm” among leading academics." thetimes.co.uk/article/plan-t…
Longer version of our letter: "It is our strong view that the burden of proof remains with the respective Chief Statisticians to articulate why data on biological sex is no longer salient." ukdataexperts.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/open-l…