Britain's High Court on Tuesday ordered the government to change its instructions for the 2021 census, and compel transgender people to give their legally recognised sex.
The court ordered the government's Office for National Statistics to rewrite its guidelines on how people should describe their sex, after the campaign group Fair Play for Women complained that it allowed people to define their own sex.
"The guidance is wrong. It does not match the question being asked," Judge Jonathan Swift said before the March 21 census.
"[Fair Play for Women has] a strongly arguable case on the proper meaning of sex ... as recognised by law and not the sex with which the person self-identifies."
The decision comes amid an increasingly bitter row over trans rights in Britain, where the government last year abandoned plans to make it easier for people to change their sex on official documents, after heated debate.
The original ONS guidance said: "For those whose gender is different from their sex registered at birth, who may find the question difficult to answer, the answer they provide does not need to be the same as their birth certificate."
Fair Play for Women, which says it campaigns for women's gender-based rights, said on its website that the office had redefined sex "to include self-declared gender identity", which prevented the collection of accurate data on sexual inequality.
Mr Swift granted Fair Play for Women's request to seek a full judicial review of the matter, provisionally next week.
In the meantime, the ruling said census respondents must give the sex on their birth certificate or gender recognition document, which allows trans people to gain legal recognition of their new gender and name.
To receive a gender recognition certificate, they must live in their acquired gender for two years and have a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, or the discomfort people can feel if their gender identity does not match their body.
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The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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