PEOPLE IN SCOTLAND will be able to self-identify as either male or female in next year’s census, official guidance has said.

This means Scots will not be required to give the same sex as that recorded on their birth certificate and a voluntary question on trans status will follow allowing people to identify as non-binary.

Ireland’s Central Statistics Office confirmed to The Journal in February that Census 2022 won’t include a question about citizens’ gender identity, but research is being carried out into including the question in subsequent ones.

National Records of Scotland, who are responsible for Scotland’s census, said people do not need a gender-recognition certificate to identify as a different gender from the one registered at birth.

The guidance, issued yesterday, said: “If you are transgender the answer you give can be different from what is on your birth certificate. You do not need a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

“If you are non-binary or you are not sure how to answer, you could use the sex registered on your official documents, such as your passport.

“A voluntary question about trans status or history will follow if you are aged 16 or over. You can respond as non-binary in that question.”

The census was delayed a year in Scotland due to the pandemic, while England, Wales and Northern Ireland held their counts earlier this year. Northern Ireland held its census on 21 March, but didn’t ask its citizens to clarify their gender.

In this year’s census in England and Wales, people were asked the voluntary question of: “Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?”

The Office of National Statistics said: “Your answer helps your local community by allowing charities, public bodies, and local and central government to understand what services people might need.

“This information helps monitor equality between groups of people of different gender identities.

Your answer will help public bodies to identify discrimination or social exclusion based on gender identity and work to stop it from happening.

It was the first time the question had been asked.