Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"There are limited gender options in these surveys: male, female and, on some surveys, 'do not wish to disclose.' As scientists who exist outside the gender binary, many of us do wish to disclose our gender, but are unable to do so because these terms do not reflect our identities.

[...]

"As scientists and scientific institutions, we must promote collection of accurate data. Changing methods based on new information is a cornerstone of good science. The NSF is collecting inaccurate data: nonbinary people, who are neither men nor women, must either report their gender falsely or not disclose it. An NSF spokesperson confirmed last year that the agency is considering splitting the question into two parts: 'current gender identity' and 'assigned sex at birth.' Despite its popularity, using biological sex as a proxy for gendered experience is unscientific, outdated and often motivated by a desire to exclude. Much of the evidence in favor of a two-step question comes from trans health research, whose findings may not apply outside of medical contexts. One often-cited study about intake forms in a sexual health clinic showed that a two-step question led to 4.8 times more trans people being identified, but it was the addition of a 'Nonbinary/Genderqueer' gender option that accounted for over half of the increase.

"Context is also critical here: a person who is willing to tell their doctor about their birth assignment may feel differently about the same question on a federal census. Transgender people are often uncomfortable being asked their assigned sex at birth, and nonbinary scientists we know often prefer not to disclose it. Further, while 'transgender' is not a stable or truly measur able category, this information can be collected directly and respectfully by asking the optional question 'Do you identify as transgender?' Relying on assigned sex at birth to back-calculate who is and isn't a gender minority just creates another artificial binary and flattens the experiences of scientists in our community."

-- from "Nonbinary Scientists Want Funding Agencies to Change How they Collect Gender Data", Scientific American, 2021-08-30, by Riley DeHority (odetomyday) and three others. [DeHority mentioned elsewhere that, "I wasn't originally supposed to be listed first on this, but the original first author was dealing with so much harassment (and threats of violence) on the street that they didn't want the extra stress."]