2021 Census

 

Ten years ago I became famous for my activities relating to the 2011 census form, see: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/03/hpanwo-tv-guide-to-your-census-form.html and: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2012/04/ben-emlyn-jones-on-richplanet-tv.html. This has inevitably meant that many people have contacted me asking if I plan to repeat the stunt this time. I was considering this and waited for my form to arrive and then I found out that most people had already had their form delivered while mine had not appeared. I wondered if it might have been sent to my old address by accident. I actually moved just a month after the last census fire festival yet some of my post still turns up there. However I am in touch with the residents of my old home and they regularly keep any post for me; and I drop in to pick it up every couple of months. After a while I found out what had happened. My landlord had taken the delivered forms and filled them out for us online; myself and my two fellow residents, Axmat and Hosn. The landlord said: "There was one voluntary bit I left blank." He blushed slightly. "What were they?" I asked. He explained. This year's census is, for the first time, including questions about sexual orientation and gender identity. They want to know how many people are heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/18/census-to-ask-about-sexual-orientation-for-the-first-time. They also want to know whether people are suffering from sexual dysphoria in large numbers. I consider this an intrusion into people's private lives. What is it with the government? They're obsessed with sex! I know answers to these questions are not compulsory, but all the same it's very creepy that that it's even a request. It's incredibly nosy and more than a bit sinister. I don't think it's right for the government to ask any question that I would not ask a stranger in normal polite conversation. There is no way I would ask somebody I had only just met: "Are you gay?" I thanked my landlord for leaving that part blank.