Council asks for residents sexual orientation and gender identity to improve recycling service
Suffolk county council has asked residents to disclose their sexual orientation in a survey about recycling.
The survey about opening hours and recycling centres asks people to declare their age, race, religion, disabilities, sexual orientation and gender identity.
It also asks people to disclose their HIV status.
Despite responses boxes being optional, it has caused outrage in residents.
One person, who lives in the area said: “Why does it matter how many transgender individuals recycle their rubbish?”
“I can understand why Suffolk County Council need to know whether disabled people use their sites, but as for sexual orientation, it is no one’s business,” wrote another.
Earlier this month the council released a different survey about bus stops, which asked respondents to clarify whether they were transgender and what their HIV status was.
A spokesperson for the council said the survey was “entirely optional whether people filled in that part of the survey and their answers to the rest of the questions would be considered anyway.”
They went on to stress the importance of knowing residents health status.
“It is important to know what people with disabilities or illness think about our services and it is important that we try to encourage diversity. We need to know that not everyone is the same.”
