I take a keen interest in the debate around all things gender and feel horrified that women are being sidelined to make way for some vocal groups of men. Daily we see boundaries blurred and women being expected to stand aside in order that a man can win that race or get that job or even just invade our public loos.
Part of the problem in my view is that the word sex has been replaced by the word gender. Sex, in most cases, is clear, scientific, one thing or the other. Sex isn't assigned at birth, it is observed and documented. In most cases, the observer does not need to be a health professional.
Gender is a less clear, less scientific state. It is fluid, changing and depends who is telling the tale. It means many things to many people.
In a nutshell, sex and gender have different meanings. One other is definite, the other is more of a spectrum.
So, why have official forms adopted the term gender in place of sex. I filled one in today before donating blood. Surely the term gender has no place in a fact based procedure. Dozens of explicit questions about my health from contact with zeeko virus to body piercing, yet blood transfusion aren't really sure whether I'm male or female or a woman who feels like a man or a man who feels like a woman.
While it may seen a trivial thing to twist knickers over, it is the thin end of the wedge. Where sexes are treated differently, for example health, clear, unambiguous facts are paramount. NHS planning needs clear facts to work on ,otherwise there may time, money and energy will be wasted inviting trans women for smears and mammograms. Or trans-men for prostate advice.
So, to the point. Where organisations have jumped on the gender bandwagon, would crossing out gender on official forms and writing, in black ink,sex be acceptable?
