Census will ask public to provide details about their sexual orientation

THE Governments census will this year ask Brits to give details on their sexual orientation and gender identity in a bid to compile reliable data on the country’s LGBT population.

The questions will be voluntary and for people aged 16 and over, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The organisation’s deputy national statistician said that without concrete data on the LGBT population, decision-makers are ‘operating in a vacuum’ and are ‘unaware of the extent and nature of disadvantage which LGBT people may be experiencing’.

The survey, which is given out every 10 years, would give robust data to local authorities in England and Wales.

Iain Bell, ONS deputy national statistician, told The Observer, ‘There is no robust data available on gender identity at all. These data are needed by local authorities and service providers.’

Scotland holds a separate census in the spring but it will also include voluntary questions on sexual orientation and gender identity.

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