Advocacy groups are up in arms with Statistics South Africa over the exclusion of LGBTQ people in the ongoing national Census which will end on Feb. 28.
Although South Africa is deemed to be among the most liberal countries when it comes to LGBTQ rights on the African continent and globally, this time, it seems as if the government made a costly error by including only male and female boxes on the questionnaire.
Reacting to the exclusion of LGBTQ people on the 2022 national Census questionnaire, Nolwazi Tusini, communications and media manager at Iranti, a Johannesburg-based media advocacy organization that advocates for the rights of LGBTQ people, said the data will be used to make conclusions about gender in ways that completely exclude transgender and nonbinary people.
“According to StatsSA, the Census 2022 questionnaire includes a question relating to sex which provides only two options, male or female, and this refers to a biological make-up of the person or the sex that is assigned at birth. This effectually means that transgender and intersex persons will not be counted in the upcoming Census,” said Tusini. “The Census solely relies on counting a society that is cisgender and excludes a significant part of South Africa’s population.
“Furthermore, history has taught us that the data captured from the responses to the question on sex is often used to make conclusions about gender in ways that completely exclude transgender and non-binary persons,” added Tusini. “For example, using this data to tell us about the number of cisgender women and cisgender men residing in South Africa and their employment status.”
The current questionnaire also does not include questions relating to sexual orientation and will therefore, not yield any data relating to lesbian, gay and bisexual people in South Africa. This is contrary to South Africa’s Constitution, which recognizes South Africans by their diverse sexual orientations.
“By StatsSA’s own admission, the current structure of the Census 2022 does not actively enumerate LGBTQIA+ persons. This effectively renders LGBTQIA+ persons invisible and is not in line with the South African Constitution which enshrines the rights to equality and self-determination,” said Tusini. “This urges a greater conversation around legal gender recognition in this country, where it permeates and how it’s understood and then accepted across government departments.”
Iranti Executive Director Jabu Pereira said StatsSA was encouraging the state to erase the existence of the LGBTQ community,
“We regard this Census as unconstitutional because its very design is premised on exclusion and if a census excludes a significant population such as the LGBTQIA+ community, then by its very nature it encourages the state to erase our very existence,” said Pereira.
Bruce Walker of Pretoria LGBTQIA+ Gay Pride concurred with Pereira, saying the omission of the LGBTQ community in the ongoing Census was a move aimed at “erasing their existence.” Walker said their organization has already launched campaigns against the count.
“Considering the news of the exclusion of the LGBTQIA+ identities in the Census we felt it necessary to voice our outrage on this. We feel this is a direct attack on the community,” said Walker.
“There are a few points that we feel should be addressed before this Census is held,” added Walker. “Why are there only two options relating to sex? Male or female. Why is there no intersex or transgender here? Why are people who do not identify with either excluded? Why are there no questions about sexual orientation? This is a missed opportunity for the government to better understand the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Pretoria LGBTQIA+ Gay Pride’s directed the following questions to StatsSA:
– Why have you excluded a large portion of South Africa in this Census? Do you feel that the LGBTQIA+ community is not part of the population?
– If you think the LGBTQIA+ is not part of the community then why should we participate in the Census? Is this not against our constitutional rights? Why did you not engage with LGBTQIA+ organizations when compiling the questions? Is this not the first step to excluding the LGBTQIA+ rights in the constitution? Is the government now going to stop LGBTQIA+ rights in the workplace?
– Will the LGBTQIA+ community rights that we have fought for now be revoked? Will gay marriage now be revoked? What would the people say if you had only black or white under race?
– We as a Pride organization are outraged at this and we are extremely disappointed at the silence from political parties. We are putting out petitions out in the community and online. Why must we wait 10 years for the next Census? If we do not get a satisfactory response from Census 22 and the government then we will be asking our community not to participate in this Census at all. After all they do not think we are part of the population.
“An attack on one party of the LGBTQIA+ community is an attack on the whole community,” said Walker.
