The U.S. Census Bureau announced that it is removing the planned sexual orientation question from a national survey. This is another devastating blow to our LGBTQ community by the Trump administration. Census staff were told by the Decennial Census Directorate to remove the sexual orientation question from the Census Barriers, Attitudes & Motivators Survey (CBAMS). The Census will be finalizing the survey on Thursday, September 28th. Rea Carey, National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director stated, “Who & how the Census counts has enormous consequences for resource distribution, representation & LGBTQ protections. We shouldn’t have to keep telling this administration that we count. In case we weren’t clear: we count. Our experiences matter. Our needs matter, so count us.” The purpose of the CBAMS is “to gauge public knowledge, attitudes & behavior regarding the decennial censuses, as well as inform the strategic direction of the Census Bureau's 2020 Census Integrated Partnership & Communications Program.” The proposed survey originally included a sexual orientation question. Meghan Maury, Policy Director, National LGBTQ Task Force added, “This survey helps the Census Bureau understand how best to reach communities that are historically undercounted. The Census drives federal funding & the allocation of seats in Congress. Not counting LGBTQ people means less money for social programs & less democratic representation & that’s just not fair. The LGBTQ community, across the country, demands to be counted!”
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Make no mistake - public pressure on the Trump Administration works. It was messages from the members of the National LGBTQ Task Force and our partner organizations that compelled the Census Bureau to reverse their appalling decision to stop counting us. Thanks to the efforts of people across the country, the Census will continue collecting data about sexual orientation. We also will continue to push them to collect data about gender identity. Data about the LGBTQ community is absolutely crucial to ensuring that we are distributed the resources we need, that we are represented, and that the most vulnerable in our community are protected.
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