ORLANDO, Fla. — The 2020 census questionnaire drove Scout crazy. With no direct questions about sexual orientation and gender identity, it made him feel left out of the U.S. head count.
Among LGBTQ people, the census only asked about same-sex couples living together, and Scout didn’t live with his partner. So to compensate, he hounded his gay, cohabiting neighbors in Providence, Rhode Island to respond and provide at least some visibility for the community.
“I was stalking them to fill out the census form because mine didn’t make a difference,” said Scout, a transgender man who uses one name. “There’s no question I’m absolutely made invisible by the census.”
This could change soon. Recognizing the difficulty of persuading people to reveal information many find sensitive, the U.S. Census Bureau is requesting millions of dollars to study how best to ask about sexual orientation and gender identity. The results could provide much better data about the LGBTQ population nationwide at a time when views about sexual orientation and gender identity are evolving.
“Change is in the air,” said Kerith Conron, research director at the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, which researches these issues. “It’s exciting.”
The Census Bureau’s request comes as President Joe Biden declared June as LGBTQ “Pride Month,” and as U.S. passports now offer an “X” in addition to “M” or “F”, for non-binary or intersex individuals. It is taking place as some Republican-dominated state legislatures restrict what can be discussed about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and banned transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports.
“We are seeing that numbers matter when politicians are demeaning and conducting culture wars against people,” said Gina Duncan, a transgender woman who advocates in Orlando with Equality Florida.
As the nation’s largest statistical agency, the bureau sets an example for how…
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