Rainbow Kiwis encouraged to be counted in Census to 'help change things'

Wednesday, 16 November 2022

The 2023 Census for the first time included questions about sexual identity and orientation. (Video first published November 2022.)

Rainbow communities are being encouraged to take part and be counted in the next Census, because with data “we can change things”, advocates say.

Questions about gender, sexual identity, and variations of sex characteristics will for the first time be included in the 2023 Census, in which rainbow Kiwis have been invisible since its inception in 1851.

Intersex Kiwis who do not identify as male of female, for example, will now be able to be counted.

This Transgender Awareness Week, Stats NZ and advocates say they hope with more data collected, there will be access to more funding and resources.

* Aotearoa's rainbow communities to be formally quantified

* Widespread discrimination of rainbow community in New Zealand - report

Ahi Wi-Hongi, national co-ordinator of Gender Minorities Aotearoa.

Gender Minorities Aotearoa national co-ordinator Ahi Wi-Hongi said that until the Counting Ourselves survey conducted by University of Waikato researchers, there was no national data on transgender Kiwis available.

But it was a “step forward” having a government department collating information, especially since being able to access the whole nation was “very useful”.

“We’re always trying to say to people, when you fill in these surveys, the data that comes back means that we can change things.

Vinod Bal, co-founder of Adhikaar Aotearoa, a charity which advocates for LGBTQIA+ people of colour, predominantly of South Asian descent.

It had been a really long road to get to this point, Wi-Hongi said.

“We campaigned for years to have transgender people included in the Census.”

Vinod Bal, co-founder of Adhikaar Aotearoa, a charity which advocates for LGBTQIA+ people of colour, predominantly from South Asia, said more data would give an evidence base to propose interventions for communities.

Rainbow charity InsideOUT staff, Alex Kerr, left, Rebecca Lauryssen, Compass Wilts-Ramsay, Tabby Besley, Rosie Leadbitter, Edie Freeman and Neo Kenny, celebrating in October 2021 when it was announced the 2023 NZ Census would include questions on sexual orientation and gender identity for the first time.

“In this way, this move is incredibly important and has the potential to be quite impactful.”

Specifically, it would be good to see population data on “minorities within minorities”, such as those that his organisation worked with – ethnic rainbow individuals.

“Because of the erasure that ethnic rainbow communities face, such data would do well to visibilise the community.”

But he was apprehensive about what the data will show, since there were “immense barriers” to people reporting their rainbow identities, which were often in their formative stages of development, particularly to government agencies.

He encouraged rainbow individuals to answer the Census questions if they felt safe to do so.

Stats NZ deputy government statistician Simon Mason said the March 7 Census will be the first time people with genetic, hormonal, or physical sex characteristics that do not conform to medical norms for female or male bodies (often referred to as intersex) will be counted.

The data collected would better reflect each unique rainbow community, and help them advocate for their needs on the same footing as other New Zealanders, he said.

Neo Kenny from InsideOUT Kōaro, a national charity that supports Rainbow youth, welcomes the addition of the questions to the census.

“It’s going to be really wonderful to be able to share our full selves. The more data we have about our Rainbow communities, the more positive changes we can make.”