London Assembly Member Sian Berry has welcomed a commitment from City Hall to make their public engagement procedures more inclusive for non-binary, intersex and transgender people.
In a response to a question from Sian about why the recent City Hall clean air consultation only included male and female gender options, the Mayor of London committed City Hall to reviewing the wording of the gender question when collecting data from Londoners, and promised that City Hall would change its wording ‘shortly.’[1]
The response also noted that the Office for National Statistics will test new wording on its own gender question next year, ahead of including it on the 2021 Census, but that City Hall would review their wording ahead of this.
Sian said:
“It’s great that the Mayor has responded positively to making gender questions more inclusive. This follows his previous commitment to support my proposal to phase in ‘gender-blind’ processes for recruitment across the whole Greater London Authority and to allow the inclusion of gender-neutral titles.” [2]
“People shouldn’t have to choose between male and female when giving their personal details to public bodies. I want everyone in society to be able to engage with City Hall’s work, so this is a positive step.”
Notes to editors
Sian is available for interview
Sian Berry was elected as a Green member of the London Assembly in May 2016. She has been a councillor for Highgate ward in Camden since 2014.
[1] Sian’s question to the Mayor and the answer are available here: http://questions.london.gov.uk/QuestionSearch/searchclient/questions/question_289408
[2] Sian previously won the backing of the Mayor to introduce gender-blind processes in GLA recruitment, as well as introduce gender-neutral titles such as ‘Mx’: http://questions.london.gov.uk/QuestionSearch/searchclient/questions/question_288055