Over a third of Britons don’t know that a transgender woman is biologically male, according to a new poll.
Confusion was even greater for the shortened term “trans woman,” with 40 percent either being unsure or believing it meant someone who was registered female at birth.
MBM said several media outlets—including the BBC and the Guardian—regularly used the terms without further explanation, and called on journalists to be more explicit when reporting gender terms.
As well as media bodies, the Edinburgh-based group said policymakers and polling companies “need to anticipate relatively high levels of misunderstanding and confusion” when using the terms, according to their findings
The report stated: “Using these terms, without spelling out what they mean for a person’s sex as matter of course, will leave a large minority of people at best uncertain.
Regulator Guidance
The Edinburgh-based group commissioned Survation to carry out separate polls for each term, of 1,008 and 1,026 UK adults, between June 15 and 19, and June 23 and 26 this year.The report said that in many cases, the terms adopted by the media are as a result of lobbying from trans rights activists, who often claim it is discriminatory and offensive to refer to a transgender person’s biological sex.
However, MBM said the results of its poll showed there was a need for language to be more explicitly explained.
“The results of our polling show that to avoid confusion and misunderstanding, journalists and others need to spell out clearly what sex of a person is being referred to, in any context where sex matters,” it said.
Last week the UK press regulator issued new guidance on how to report issues relating to sex and gender identity.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation included the advice in Clause 1 of the Editor’s Code (Accuracy) which states: “Accurate presentation of policy or guidance is vital to keeping the public well-informed.
“Journalists and editors must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading, or distorted information when reporting on changes to policy or guidance relating to gender identity and the transgender community.”
Sex Disparity
The MBM findings also showed a disparity between male and female understanding of the terms.Both sexes were more likely to understand “transgender woman” correctly, but the difference in results between the terms was very small for women.
For men, the understanding of ‘transgender woman’ was much higher, and they were also much less likely to misunderstand that term than “trans woman,” it said.
Neither income nor level of educational qualification were predictors of accurate understanding. However, the survey found those with no or the most basic level of qualifications were most likely to have difficulty with this language, with “trans woman” causing the most confusion.
Its meaning was clear only to just over half 54 percent of that group.
Age also showed an interesting disparity with those aged over 45 more likely to understand both terms accurately than those in younger groups.
Of those aged 25-34, barely half gave the correct response, for both terms. Well over one-quarter of the younger group believed a “trans woman” described someone who had been registered female at birth.
MBM said that given the fact younger age groups are ‘generally assumed” to be more engaged with issues of gender identity, the finding is “surprising.”
Gender Reform
Different regions of the UK also showed unevenness in understanding gender terms, with London recording the lowest accurate response rate.Just 43 percent of those surveyed in the British capital correctly understood the term “trans woman” and over one-third of this group gave the wrong answer.
MBM put the figures down to “higher numbers who have English as a second language.”
Scotland—which has faced a raft of controversies surrounding gender identity—performed better than England and Wales survey samples, with those surveyed more likely to understand both terms correctly and least likely to misunderstand either.
MBM said this may reflect the prominence of the debate around legal reform in Scotland and “perhaps even more, high-profile coverage of the Adam Graham/Isla Bryson case.”
Bryson’s case caused major controversy over the issue of housing transgender criminals in female prisons.
After being convicted, he was initially sent to a segregation unit at an all-female prison at Cornton Vale Prison in Stirling.
Scotland’s then-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon came under pressure from campaigners, MPs, and Downing Street after they expressed concerns that the transgender rapist was set to be sent to a female jail to await sentencing.
Ms. Sturgeon—who abruptly resigned earlier this year—eventually backed down and confirmed that the sex offender would not be held in a women’s prison.
Court Challenge
In April, the Scottish government announced it will challenge Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision in January to block its gender reform bill in court.Current First Minister Humza Yousaf confirmed his government will go to court to challenge the UK government’s decision.
He said legal action is “now our only means of defending our Parliament’s democracy from the Westminster veto.”
Mr. Sunak said his government’s decision to block the bill had been made “after taking very careful and considered advice.”
He added that the government had concerns about “how Scotland’s gender recognition act would interact with reserved powers, about the operation of the Equalities Act, the protection of women elsewhere in the UK as well.”
Critics of the gender legislation say that a self-identification system could be exploited.
