Author of the article: Washington Post Miriam Berger, The Washington Post Date of publication: April 28, 2022 • 1 day ago • 4 minutes reading • 270 comments
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One in 300 people aged 15 and over in Canada is recognized as trans or non-trans, according to recently published data from the 2021 Census in Canada, providing the clearest gender identity in the country nationwide.
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The findings, which included data rarely collected for national censuses, provide an insight into evolving definitions of gender and sexual identity – increasingly adopted by young and urban people in Canada – at a time when LGBTQ rights and especially a new awareness of the policies affecting trans people, have become a major battleground in political and cultural wars. The National Statistics Office of Canada recorded a sharp generation gap: Younger populations were three to seven times more likely to be recognized as trans or non-binary than older ones. Among Generation Z, or individuals born between 1997 and 2005, 0.79 percent were recognized as trans or non-trans binary. For millennials – born between 1981 and 1996 – the rate was 0.51 percent. In contrast, only 0.15 percent of baby boomers born between 1946 and 1965 chose transgender or nonbinary, and 0.12 percent of people born in 1945 or earlier did so.
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The percentage was even higher among people aged 20 to 24, almost 1 in 100 of whom chose transgender or non-bisexual. The census recorded 59,460 people in Canada aged 15 and over who were identified as trans and 41,355 as non-binary. Of these, the mean age among transsexuals was 39.4 years and 30.4 years for non-binary individuals. By contrast, 48 was the average age of the nearly 30.5 million people in Canada aged 15 and over. Just over half of non-binary people lived in one of Canada’s six largest urban centers. They also reported high rates of living in urban centers. Slightly less than half of transgender people said they lived in the six largest urban areas, similar to Canada’s overall average. Canadian officials said they decided to add the new language to the census in response to the country’s efforts to extend protection to LGBTQ people, along with a growing, global focus on gender diversity.
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“These changes reflect the current reality in terms of evolving acceptance and understanding of gender and sexual diversity and the emerging social and legal recognition of transgender, non-binary and LGBTQ2 + individuals in general,” the statement said. Two-spirit, represented by 2, is an umbrella word in Canada used to describe a range of sexes among indigenous peoples. The inclusion of these changes provided “formal recognition of the idea that gender and gender are two different things,” said Neela Ghoshal, senior director of law, policy and research at OutRight Action International, a New York-based organization that advocates for LGBTQ rights. “I hope that other governments will adopt similar policies. . . to recognize the growing number of people who see gender as somewhat fluid or do not feel they fit into a binary identity ”.
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“They see us,” he added. “Gender is something that people can talk about.” The 2021 Census asked participants their gender “at birth” and had a separate question about gender. Respondents could identify men, women or others and then make their choice. Individuals who identify with the same sex as they were born are generally classified as cisgender. “This data can be used by public decision-makers, employers and providers of healthcare, education, justice and other services to better meet the needs of all men and women – including trans and trans – and non-binary individuals in their communities, “Statistics Canada said in a statement. There is still very little globally available data on gender identity for one simple reason: most countries do not collect it.
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The World Health Organization estimates that about 0.5 percent of the world’s population is transgender or identical with a gender that is strictly male or female. Surveys in Belgium in 2020 found that 0.3 to 0.5 percent of adults and 1.2 to 2.7 percent of children and adolescents were recognized as trans. Other non-representative surveys and population surveys have reached largely similar figures, although Statistics Canada has warned against direct comparisons of data from different measurement tools. In 2021, the British Census for the first time offered respondents the opportunity to report a gender different from the male or female. The results have not been published yet.
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“Is the gender you identify with the same as your gender recorded at birth?” asked the inventory. No national census data available for the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau first asked about gender identity and sexual orientation just last year in the Family Pulse Survey, which measured the impact of the pandemic on households. About 1.4 million adults in the United States are recognized as trans and about 1.2 million as non-binary, according to a study by the Williams Institute, a research center that focuses on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. In 2011, India included the selection of another in its national census for the first time. They were followed by Pakistan in 2017 and Nepal in 2021. In many South Asian countries, communities have long accepted the concept of the third sex. Some countries that grant rights to trans people, however, maintain very restrictive or repressive rules against populations that are not recognized as male or female.
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