Our World

 Here in the the UK, more specifically in England and Wales in 2021 the Government carried out a census of the population, this is done every 10 years to provide information on a range of subjects from population density, housing, how people travel to work etc etc. For the first time there were questions about gender and sexual orientation. These questions were voluntary, so although the results will give an indication there is no way of knowing how accurate any conclusions drawn could be without further research. Results of the census are now being released by the Office for National Statistics and are available on line, search for Census 2021. There are some interesting figures in the report, to me the thing that stood out the most is that according to the census, the group most likely to identify as trans (the report defines this as "gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth") is 16 to 24 years of age, with 1% of the population (63,000) compared with 0.54%of the overall population that identified as trans (262,000). There is a lot of information available on line if you want to find out more. 

The significant findings for me is that as the age increased in each successive age group people were less likely to identify as trans, I wonder why that is? Firstly remember you can't read too much into this as the question was voluntary, secondly people do not always give the correct answers and some people only completed part of the question. Thirdly without detailed research no meaningful conclusions can be drawn.  However we can say that a significant proportion of the younger population identify as trans and the likelihood of identifying as trans decreases with age. It will be interesting to see in the next census in 8 years time if the numbers identifying as trans stay the same for a given age group or if it is an ever increasing total. 

The fact is the UK Government's own estimate is that there is between 200,000 and 500,000 trans people in the UK, in truth they have no real idea. In order to work out a realistic number they would have to put people in groups, 'trans gender, trans sexual, transvestite' etc, purely with the object of obtaining a reasonably accurate number.  Each of these groups would need to be defined so that everyone identifying as trans, in what ever form, can be in the correct group. Now I know a lot of people would be against this as one thing many do not like is having to identify with a particular group, especially if the Government wants them too. 

The data shows there are large number of young people identifying as trans in one form or another, that in itself is not a problem, although I do think research needs to be carried out to work out just why this appears to be the case. There is evidence that to some being 'trans' is a lifestyle choice, that is not a problem, it would seem that in some cases they are choosing the trans lifestyle out of choice not need. An example I heard from a distant relative a while ago was that a granddaughter wishes to identify as male, wears male clothes and wants to be known by a male name, fine the family are supportive and doing the best they can. However when it came to the school prom the said youngster insisted on having a new long dress for the prom.......... Which doesn't add up to me. This is one of the reasons detailed research needs to be done to understand the trans community. I do personally think that if all people on the trans spectrum were counted it would be more, possibly a lot more than the Governments top estimate.............

One problem that is possibly at the root of all this is that we are assigned gender at birth based on our physical appearance and your life is instantly mapped out from there. As I know only too well, although that is fine for most people, it doesn't suit all, there was no provision for people like me when I was born, or more importantly in adolescence, it is different now, but I know I was born the way I am and I battled with my feelings all my life with no support, ok, as I said, it is different now, but someone should not have to go through life hating themselves and hiding their real feelings. It would be nice if some word was done in this area so that the younger generations can understand who they are and have to go through years of hardship and misery. I must have shown signs, traits of my inner self, I have wanted to be a woman all my life, as hard as I tried it could not all be hidden., but there was nobody there for me. So ok the Government needs to carry out a census on a regular basis to understand the needs of the population as a whole, but it also be nice if it could fund research into what it really means to be trans and how those feelings and desires came about in the first place. In the present financial climate that seems very unlikely, but hopefully someone will at some point. Let me make this completely clear, I am not advocating finding the reason and then sourcing a 'cure'. I am suggesting finding out why this happens and use that information to enhance the lives (particularly young lives) of people in this community. Being trans, in whatever form, is a wonderful thing, it brings so much to our society as a whole, to embrace it fully we just need to understand it a little more........