Government To Ask Scots If They're Gay In Trial Census

A Trial run for the next official census will ask Scots to reveal if they are gay.
Officials from the General Register Office are to carry out a sample survey, asking individuals to tick a box to show if they are heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or other.
They will then decide whether to include a question on sexual orientation in the next official census in 2011.
But the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which runs the census in England and Wales, has indicated it is unlikely to ask such a question south of the Border.
So it could end up that Scots are asked if they are gay, while people in England and Wales are not.
Other new questions which are being considered include asking people about their income, whether households eat meals together and how safe people feel going out at night.
Although it is compulsory to complete the census form, the sexual orientation question would be optional. But officials are worried it might deter people from filling in the form, so a sample survey will be carried out to check whether it affects response rates.
Tim Hopkins, of the National Equality Network, said including the question could provide information to make sure gay people were not discriminated against.
He said: "We have had local authorities and health boards contact us asking how many gay people there are in their area. They need to know because of the services they provide, but at the moment there is no reliable information.
"There is evidence that around four to five per cent of the population as a whole are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, but a lot of gay people move to big cities like Edinburgh or Glasgow so we would expect there to be more there."
He said by 2011 it would be even more important to have clear information on numbers of gay people because by then laws against discrimination and a duty to promote equality will have been extended to cover homosexuals.
Mr Hopkins said a survey among gay people earlier this year showed 85 per cent supported including a census question on sexual orientation. And another online survey showed well over 90 per cent of gays would answer such a question.
Parliament is not expected to make a final decision on the questions to be included until 2009.
Mike Parker, general secretary of the Evangelical Alliance in Scotland, said someone's sexuality was a private affair. But he added: "The advantage of this type of question might be that it will give a realistic picture of how many people have that type of lifestyle and it may show the figures are a lot less than people expect."
Alan Wardle, parliamentary director for gay rights group Stonewall in London, said it would be "crazy" if the sexual orientation question was asked in Scotland, but not in England and Wales.
"It's good that Scotland is ahead of the game on this."
In a consultation document, the ONS said the census was not seen as an appropriate vehicle for collecting information on sexual orientation.
from News.Scotsman.com