#successes

Never forget, “Rock bottom is your teacher”

There’s lot more to education than just what you learn at school.

School doesn’t teaches about financial independence, investing etc… Some of the most important tools.

Don’t stop your education just in school, keep learning outside of it… Remember, there are many sources to learn from I’m today’s digital economy.

mxactivist:

[Sign here]

Here in the UK, it has been proven in court that nonbinary people are protected “beyond any doubt” under the protected characteristic of gender reassignment in the Equality Act 2010. By not including nonbinary people in the Gender Recognition Act 2004, which allows only binary trans people to change their legal documentation (e.g. birth certificate) to reflect their true gender, the government are breaking the law.

You can sign if you live in the UK or you’re a British citizen living abroad.

This petition has 39,538 signatures so far, and it needs 100,000 to be considered for debate in parliament. It’s also the petition getting the most signatures right now (2nd May 2021). You can check out the signature rate here.

The deadline is 26 October 2021.

Thank you!

[Sign here]

2021-05-06

This petition has been very successful! We first posted about it on 2nd May at just under 40,000 signatures, and it was started 5 days previously. It reached 100,000 signatures on 3rd May, less than a week after it was started:

[Graph source]

It’s now at over 130,000 signatures!

Please keep signing and sharing. Don’t let them think we’re going to give up just because we reached their arbitrary goal. Keep pushing.

[Sign here]

mxactivist:

mxactivist:

mxactivist:

mxactivist:

2020-10-03

Thesystem for ordering a coronavirus test in England and Wales requires you to provide a binary gender, both online and over the phone.

This is in breach of GDPR (data protection law), which requires information stored about us to be accurate.

It’s also indirect discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, which has recently been found by a court to cover nonbinary transitions “beyond any doubt”.

Ultimately what this means is that nonbinary people are unable to get tested for coronavirus in England and Wales unless they lie. This is an unacceptable barrier to healthcare for nonbinary people, especially taking into account that both the NHS and the UK government acknowledge the reality and validity of nonbinary genders.

After some investigation I found that there is no postal address for making a formal complaint. I was instead referred to this URL: https://www.gov.uk/contact/govuk

Please join me in submitting a complaint through this form, asking them to add a third gender option to the coronavirus test ordering form.

The complaint form asks for the URL of the page you’re talking about, and the coronavirus test ordering form URL is this: https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test

Write your own words. It’s an easy form to complete, and you can write something long or something short. The important thing to mention is that nonbinary people are currently unable to order a coronavirus test online or over the phone, despite the NHS and the UK government knowing that nonbinary people exist.

Here’s what I wrote. Don’t copy and paste it! The complaints have to be unique and personal.

The coronavirus test ordering system requires a binary gender both when ordering online and over the phone. For nonbinary people this makes it impossible to order a test without lying. This is in breach of GDPR (which requires records kept about me to be accurate), and is indirect discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 (under the protected characteristic of transition). Will you please add a third gender option to the test ordering form for people ordering online and over the phone? I will expect a response within two weeks, and if I don’t get a response I will contact the Information Commissioner’s Office and a solicitor familiar with the Equality Act 2010. Thank you.

2020-10-05

I’ve just had a response to my complaint:

Dear [Name],

Thanks for contacting GOV.UK

Your query has been passed to the team at Public Health England who manage this material. They will investigate and respond to you directly if appropriate. You should receive a response within 18 working days.

In the meantime your original query with GOV.UK will be closed.

Alternatively, if you would like to contact them directly, use this email address:

[email protected]

Regards,

[Initials]
GOV.UK User Support Lead|Government Digital Service

I will wait for a response from Public Health England (PHE), but to those learning about this action right now, I would advise you to also email your complaint to PHE: [email protected]

18 working days from now is 29th October 2020, or thereabouts.

2020-10-23

Someone on Twitter recommended I get in touch with NHSX, who replied to me on 15th October:

Hi [Name],

I am really sorry to hear the service hasn’t worked. We are NHSX not NHS digital who run the feedback service.

What I can do is provide their number and general enquiries email:

Number: 0300 303 2713
Email: [email protected]

I hope that helps and many thanks for getting in touch,

Kind regards

NHSX feedback

So I emailed [email protected] with my complaint, and got the following response from NHS Digital today, 23rd October 2020:

Dear [Name]

Thank you for your email.

NHS 111 Isolation Note Support have provided the following response:

We sincerely apologise. Having spoken to the content team that are responsible for the form, they are aware of the issue and they are working as quickly as they can to make the patient journey more inclusive.

As a workaround, you should select whatever is recorded on your GP record. We appreciate that this does not reflect your nonbinary gender, however this is unfortunately the only way we can currently link you with your NHS GP record and allow you to proceed with booking a test.

If this resolution doesn’t answer your query or provide you with guidance please click here to inform the service desk. If we receive no correspondence within 5 working days your ticket will be automatically closed.

Kind Regards,

Isolation Note Support
[email protected]

I emailed them back to say that I am unable to select the gender marker that is recorded on my GP record, because the gender marker recorded on my GP records is either “I” for “indeterminate” or “N” for “not specified”. I also asked if they could give me any idea of how long it might take, adding that a ballpark figure would be very helpful.

I would recommend directing your complaint to [email protected] first, and I’ll edit the original post to reflect that.

2020-12-06

I received a proper response to my complaint on 3rd December, from the email address [email protected], and with the following postal address:

Covid-19 Testing Programme Complaints Team
Southern House
Sparrow Grove
Otterbourne
Winchester
SO21 2RU

The important bit is:

I am writing further to your email dated 6th October 2020, received by the COVID-19 Testing Programme Complaints Team on 7th October 2020.

I understand your complaint was regarding gender declaration for coronavirus testing.

[Apologies]

Your complaint has been investigated by the National Testing Programme Hub.

As advised by the National Testing Programme Hub, gender is captured to enable accurate recording of patients’ test results on an individual’s GP record. The gender needs to be the same as that registered on the individual’s GP record which currently is male or female. This may not reflect the true gender identity of an individual registering for a test. Investigation is underway into how best to enable users to select from a broader range of gender identities, whilst ensuring GP records can still be accurately updated.

So it took about two months. Here’s my response:

You said in your letter:

“As advised by the National Testing Programme Hub, gender is captured to enable accurate recording of patients’ test results on an individual’s GP record. The gender needs to be the same as that registered on the individual’s GP record which currently is male or female.”

Many years ago I changed my gender marker at my GP surgery to “I” (“indeterminate”) instead of M or F, because I had worked out I am nonbinary and having a male or female gender marker is inconsistent with my identity. I have since changed GP surgery several times and never had a problem with gender markers at each surgery I’ve registered with, and the same is true of NHS hospitals and NHS specialist departments. I have also encountered “N”, which stands for “not specified”. Having been out now for many years, I have not yet found an NHS system that had only M or F available. I am also friends with several nonbinary people, and helped them to change their gender markers to I or N with their GPs over the years.

I have twice now had to lie and say that my gender marker is M or F in order to get coronavirus tests when I had symptoms. The first time my PA chose one at random for me and I don’t know which one she chose. The next time I chose one at random, and it was M. This means that not only are you refusing to update my records in accordance with GDPR, and possibly in breach of the Equality Act 2010 (which was found in court to protect nonbinary people under the characteristic of gender reassignment “beyond any doubt” in September 2020, source 1,source 2) which is indirect discrimination, but your system is also unable to follow its own rules and ensure that the gender markers on my tests are the same as the one on my GP records or the same as the ones on my other tests.

In order to ensure that my coronavirus tests bear the same gender marker as my GP records, you will need to add a third gender option to your system and forms. Please confirm in a final response whether or not you will do so within four weeks. If you continue to refuse to add a third gender option to the system I intend to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office and a solicitor familiar with the Equality Act 2010.

They responded the next day, very fast!

Thank you for email, dated 2nd December 2020, received by the team today.  I am very sorry that you are not happy with the outcome of the complaint and in light of the additional information you have provided us with, I have today re-opened your complaint, in the view that we can address this fully.

I will be sending this information to the relevant teams within the Department of Health & Social Care who can review this.

In the meantime should you need any further information then please do not hesitate to contact me.

So I would advise contacting [email protected] directly, and telling them (as long as it’s true) that your GP records don’t use the gender markers M or F, to save a bit of time.

I recommend contacting your GP to get the gender marker on your records amended to N (”not specified”), if necessary. When your GP surgery confirms that your gender marker is now neutral, you can send a copy of the confirmation email/letter with your complaint to the Covid-19 Testing Programme Complaints Team. Here is a template letter that you can use to get your gender marker changed at your GP surgery.

Two months is a long time, and it’s great to see some progress on this.

How you can help:

If your gender marker with your GP is neutral, send them a letter to inform them of that and to say that if/when you have to order a coronavirus test you [would be/will be/were] unable to choose a gender that matches your GP records.

Every person who does so will add a little pressure and get a third gender marker added to a very important form a little bit sooner.

2021-05-06

I have been very busy for a few months, so I’ve not been keeping tabs on this, but I just checked and the gender question in the online gov.uk order form for coronavirus tests is now much improved!

It now has an option called “Other / Not specified / I do not know”, and help text explains that this question needs an answer specifically so that the system can match your test results with your GP records. Ideal!

Abig thank you to everyone who signed the petition, everyone who got in touch with gov.uk and the NHS directly, and especially everyone who took their complaint further and provided more feedback in Zoom meetings and phone calls. Our collective persistence has made a measurable difference. This removes a distressing barrier to healthcare for a lot of people during a very stressful time.

Activism works!

I’m making a few updates to the Nonbinary Wiki’sUK recognition section today, and I’ve found Tesco now provide Mx as a title option on their Clubcard registration form! Nice work, Tesco.

However, they could do with making titles optional, for nonbinary customers who don’t use titles at all.

Small achievements are still achievements. You are allowed to celebrate all successes. Don’t put yourself down if you “only” completed one chapter of the reading or “only” cleaned a section of your room - you’ve done what you can, and that’s enough.

Minor achievements are still achievements. You are allowed to celebrate all successes. Don’t put yourself down if you “only” completed one chapter of the reading or “only” cleaned a section of your room - you’ve done what you can, and that’s enough.