Surveys, intake forms, questionnaires — they’re almost always multiple choice, and, by default, almost never trans-friendly.
When I train businesses and organizations about creating a trans-friendly environment, one of the first things I talk about is their intake sheet. It’s generally a multiple choice affair that lists sex or gender (never both) and provides two choices — male and female.
More forward-thinking lists might offer male, female, and transgender, but while I know a few people who identify their sex and/or gender as something other than male or female, I don’t know a lot of people who consider “transgender” to be their sex or their gender identity.
Sometimes, depending on the organization, sexual orientation is listed and four choices are provided — straight (or heterosexual), gay, lesbian, bisexual. In the most horrendous of circumstances, five choices are provided — straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender. Since when did transgender become a sexual orientation?
Even the most liberal and liberated organizations often take a throw-in-the-kitchen-sink approach and ask, “How do you identify?,” providing a laundry list that includes male, female, transgender, FTM, MTF, straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and sometimes even “other.” This is probably the best approach — as long as you can choose more than one answer, and as long as “other” has a space for filling in what that “other” is.
For me, the absolute best approach — and the most trans-friendly one — is a fill-in-the-blank questionnaire:
1. How do you identify your sex? (Fill in the blank)
2. How do you identify your gender? (Fill in the blank)
3. How do you identify your sexual orientation? (Fill in the blank)
Of course, there are problems with this. Many businesses and organizations — especially nonprofits and government-funded entities — rely on statistics in order to get grants and other types of funding. And statisticians don’t like a lot of self-definition.
And, unfortunately, the organizations that are trying their best to adapt to changing identities and offer more choices are those that stand the most to lose if their funding is denied because of questionable reporting.
But in most cases, I have never felt that my identity has been adequately represented by any multiple choice surveys, intake sheets, or questionnaires that I have ever completed.
Perhaps the solution is to have a fill-in-the-blank intake sheet or survey, and then to use best guesses based on that information when reporting to higher-ups and funding agencies.
It’s not ideal, and people’s identities will still go unrepresented, but at least it would allow those working directly with the people filling out the forms — the clients — to understand each client’s personal identity, which might go a long way in one-on-one work. And it would give survey-takers a chance to see who their respondents really are.
Thoughts?
I like Angel’s comment!
I think letting people fill in a blank next to sex, gender, sexual orientation invites too many clueless non-LGBTIQ people to write-in terms that are meaningless, or worse, demeaning to trans people specifically and queer people in general. The problem is there’s not a wide enough education effort so people can fill in meaningful answers when the choice is open-ended. That said, all survey questions are a compromise between a variety of ways to get useful and valid data. There will always be drawbacks to the way a question is framed, but if it is good enough to get reasonably valid data, it’s way better than useless data or no data at all.
I heard two weeks ago at the US Census Bureau may include questions about single-sex marriage in the 2010 Census. I wish they would also include questions about gender identity. Too often it feels like no one knows about us, nor how TG people’s needs are underserved.
I like Angel’s comment, too! Except for me, it would be “rarely”!
And Jill, I agree with you about the write-in thing–it could end up being a free-for-all and a way to be demeaning, especially for some people who are so used to multiple choice and wouldn’t even understand what they were supposed to put there. It’s really hard to come up with a solution, because there are times when I want and feel the need to put more than just “male” or “gay” or whatever on a questionnaire.
I just don’t feel represented, and based on my multiple choice answers for gender and sexual orientation, sometimes my answers to other questions don’t make much sense. But I’m so wordy that it’s probably better that they limit me anyway!
And we are not represented by the census at all. One year, I put in my own box and wrote in “transman,” but I’m sure they ignored that. I could probably be arrested for interfering with government business or something.
My boyfriend always complains that when it comes to sex, forms only give the options “male” and “female”, never “yes”.
As you point out questionnaires are often for statisticians to prove their own point of view.
An organisation had one about an art festival. Q was this exhibition, A ranged from worse than expected to better than expected. You are probably ahead f me now and yes I did go to see a show which was just as bad as expected and one which was just as good as expected and wrote a long letter to the national organisation on the folly of their ways. Two years later at the next biennial festival there was the same questionnaire!
I am not even going to write about sitting in front of questions like M of F? frozen to the spot shaking inside ready to throw up, not able to get past the first question!!
I’m working on making forms for our organization more inclusive. But I’m running into the “non-profits-need-statistical-data” problem and my organization feels uncomfortable with an “other” box. I’m considering “male,” “female,” “I identify as something other than male or female: ___________”. I would welcome suggestions.
That’s the problem with data like that. Funders want specific data, and they are not prepared to incorporate anything other than Male and Female. Personally, I think what you have right there is good. Some people might complain that it only acknowledges male and female, and makes everyone else an “other,” but honestly, for the grant-givers, that’s pretty much how it is. They are not set up to accommodate anything other than Male and Female, and they have to report back to their contributors where the money has gone and so on. And people just aren’t ready yet to acknowledge anything other than “standard” gender and sex identities and “standard” sexual orientations.
You could have a “self-identify” box with a blank after it, so you had “Male” “Female” “Self-Identify as ______.” It will confuse people who have no knowledge of other identities, however. Your suggestion spells it out. If it’s not too long for your form, I think I would go with that.
I am thinking that being clear about how information will be used can help clients give helpful information with informed consent. Some examples:
So that we can address you in your preferred manner:
What is your preferred name?
What are your preferred pronouns?
Our organization relies on statistical data to justify funding. While we recognize that the below categories may not fit, how would you like us to designate your gender in our statistics? M F
Your insurance provider may require us to identify your gender as either female or male. What gender should we use to submit claims on your behalf? M F
Thoughts?
=Zach
I actually like that, because it explains why you have to ask those questions (I realize that for many nonprofits and so on, funding depends on specifically identifying various characteristics). It also recognizes that some people do not fit into those categories, so those who don’t not only understand why you are asking, but are alerted to the fact that you know those are not all-inclusive. I don’t know about other people, but If I saw those things on an intake form, I would feel that the organization was trans friendly and I would be comfortable there.