Introduction
At the end of the UK Gender Recognition consultation, an online survey was commissioned by ‘Women Ask Questions’ and paid for by publicly crowd-funded money raised for this purpose. Populus conducted the survey between 19th and 21st October 2018, using 2074 UK respondents (49% male, 51% female, weighted) across a range of age groups.
Fair Play For Women has now analysed the publicly available data from this study and the main conclusions are presented below. See the full data set generated by Populus.
8 main areas were covered in the survey (you can click to go straight to each question)
Should doctors be part of a legal transition process?
Is a self-identifying transwoman with a penis a woman?
Is it hate speech to think women don’t have a penis?
Should a self-identifying transwoman with a penis compete against women in sporting competitions?
Should a self-identifying transwoman with a penis be free to use female changing rooms?
Should a self-identifying transwoman with a penis be allowed to live in a female prison?
Should doctors be part of a legal transition process?
Q1. Do you think that those who wish to legally change their gender on official documentation (e.g. birth certificate, passport) should or should not have to obtain a letter from a doctor as part of the requirement(s)?
A clear 2/3rds of the public do not support the removal of doctors from the process for legal transition. Less than a 1/6th support demedicalisation.
Is a self-identifying transwoman with a penis a woman?
Q2. We would now like you to think about a person who was born male and has male genitalia but who identifies as a woman. In your own personal view would you consider this person to be a woman or a man?
Only 19% of the UK agrees with the concept that transwomen are women.
Women are more likely to agree with the concept that transwomen are women compared to men (23% of woman vs 14% of men).
The older someone is the more likely they are to agree with the concept that biological sex is what determines whether someone is a man or a woman. The young age group (aged 18-24) is less certain, with about a third thinking self-ID determines whether someone is a man or a woman, and a third thinking biological sex is the important determinant.
Is it hate speech to think women don’t have a penis?
Q3: Still thinking about a person who was born male and has male genitalia but who identifies as a woman. Some people believe that ‘women cannot have male genitalia’. Please move the sliding scale to indicate which statement below most accurately reflects your opinion.
0 – This is a legitimate viewpoint and should be allowed to be expressed
10 – This is hate speech and is unacceptable
There are a spread of views amongst all respondents with most opting for ‘neither’. However, when comparing the extreme ends of opinion, only 5% of the UK considers expressing the view that ‘women cannot have male genitalia’ as hate speech.
Male respondents were much more likely to consider this a legitimate view point compared to female respondents.
Young people are more likely than the older age groups to condemn this as hate speech.
Should a self-identifying transwoman with a penis compete against women in sporting competitions?
Q4. Still thinking about a person who was born male and has male genitalia but who identifies as woman. Do you think someone who identifies as a woman but was born male should or should not
be allowed to compete in female-only sporting events?
Approx 2/3rds of UK respondents thought that a male-born person with a penis who self-identifies as a woman should not be allowed to compete in female-only events. Less than 1/6th thought they should be allowed. A similar pattern of response is obtained from male and female respondents with a large majority opposed.
All age groups were more likely to oppose someone born male competing in a female-only sporting competition than agree. However, opposition clearly increased with age.
Should a self-identifying transwoman with a penis be free to use female changing rooms?
Q5. Still thinking about a person who was born male and has male genitalia but who identifies as woman. Do you think someone who identifies as a woman but was born male and still has male genitalia should or should not be free to use female changing rooms where women and girls are undressing/showering?
Again, approx 2/3rds of UK respondents thought that a male-born person with a penis who self-identifies as a woman should not be allowed to use female-only changing rooms. Less than 1/6th thought they should be allowed. A similar pattern of response is obtained from male and female respondents with a large majority opposed.
The older someone is the more likely they are to say that male-bodied people who identify as women should not use female changing rooms. The young age group (aged 18-24) are less certain, with about a third thinking they should and a third thinking they shouldn’t.
Should a self-identifying transwoman with a penis be allowed to live in a female prison?
Q6. Still thinking about a person who was born male and has male genitalia but who identifies as woman. If someone who identifies as a woman but was born male and still has male genitalia commits a crime and receives a prison sentence, do you think they should serve their sentence in a male prison, a female prison or neither?
Only 12% of UK respondents thought that a male-born prisoner with a penis who self-identifies as a woman should live in a female-only prison. The majority (58%) thought this person should live in either a male prison or a third space option. A similar pattern of views was given by male and female respondents.
All age groups were more likely to say someone born male and retaining a penis should serve a prison sentence in a place other than a female-prison. However, the likelihood of opposing a female-prison clearly increased with age of respondent. About a quarter of 18-24 year olds thought that a female prison is the appropriate location compared to only 6% of age 65 plus.
Should a self-identifying transwoman with a penis perform intimate procedures like smear tests when the woman has specifically requested a female?
Q7: Still thinking about a person who was born male and has male genitalia but who identifies as woman. Currently, women are able to request a female doctor/nurse when undergoing intimate medical procedures such as smear tests. Do you think a doctor/nurse who identifies as a woman but was born male, should or should not be allowed to perform such procedures if a woman has requested a female practitioner?
Only 9% of UK respondents thought that if a woman requests a female practitioner for a smear test, then a male who self-identifies as a woman must always be allowed to perform the procedure.
Two thirds of UK respondents thought it should not always be allowed, answering that it should be either ‘never allowed’ or ‘only allowed with informed consent’. There was no significant difference between male or female respondents in this case.
A clear majority of respondents thought it should not always be allowed, regardless of the respondent’s age. Although young people (aged 18-24) were more likely than older respondents to think it should always be allowed.
Main conclusions:
In all cases the majority of UK respondents consider a self-identifying transwoman who retains their penis to still be a man, and for it to be inappropriate for them to be considered female when it comes to changing rooms, sports, prisons and performing intimate procedures on a woman.
Although almost a fifth (19%) of UK respondents said that a self-identifying transwoman who retains their penis is a woman, a significant number of them did NOT then go on to agree that they should be treated as women in all circumstances (ranging from only 9-14%).
Young people (aged 18-25) are significantly more likely to consider a self-identifying transwoman who retains their penis to be a woman and that they should be treated as such, compared to older respondents.
Appendix
The online survey of 2074 UK respondents consisted of 49% males and 51% females (weighted). However, the 18-24 age category was under represented relative to the other groups, and the 65+ was over represented. In addition, the 18-24 age group consisted of more females than males.
Over representation of females in the younger age groups may have contributed to the observation that female respondents were more likely than male respondents to consider transwomen with a penis as women. Therefore it is unknown whether this observation is a factor linked to their age or sex.
The over-representation of the older age group (65+) in the sample population may have slightly increased the overall % of responses disagreeing that transwomen with a penis are women. However, this error is small and will not change the overall conclusions of this study.