Census Surprise

Kimberly Kael · Post by **Kimberly Kael** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:47 pm

I attended a support group yesterday in which an official census bureau representative talked about the census and LGBT issues. You can guess most of the pitch about how important it is to be counted even if you don't think they're asking the right questions, discussion about the "queer the census" campaign, etc.

What I did not expect was the emphatic statement that they want people to describe how they identify, not their legal status, for census purposes. No government agency recognizes your preferred gender? No problem, go ahead and indicate it on the census. Can't get married in your state? Pick married anyway if that's how you perceive your relationship. The forms don't use language that would encourage this (they ask about sex rather than gender, etc.) but he made it quite clear that the intent was to get the word out to the LGBT community to describe themselves and their relationships based on how they feel, which came as quite the surprise.

SilverLady(SO) · Post by **SilverLady(SO)** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:41 pm

Hi, Kimberly -

I would still urge caution for anyone who may be tempted to respond to the Census by indicating their preferred gender, etc. as that representative was stating. Knowing the current administration and the government in general, one just never knows when your response may come back to bite you on the butt, or worse, when you don't even get a hug and a kiss.

The representative's idea of the 'intent' of the Census vs the actual wording is key here. For example, if the real intent was to know a person's 'preferred gender' then that wording would have been on the Census form, and the same with marriage, etc.

Answer the questions as they are posed, if you must answer them at all.

- SL

Kimberly Kael · Post by **Kimberly Kael** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:22 am

While I appreciate your caution, SilverLady, I would only echo your concerns when it comes to keeping secrets from other people in your household. If you fill it out and leave it lying around where your spouse can find it, or if you incorrectly fill it out and get a visit from a census worker asking for more details, what you have provided might be a source of trouble later with your significant other.

As far as the government using the information for nefarious purposes? While not in tinfoil hat territory, I honestly don't think that's a significant concern. The census bureau's takes secrecy and anonymity very, very seriously as can be verified by anyone who has ever worked with them. Every single employee of the bureau swears an oath under penalty of 5 years in jail and/or $250,000 in fines not to disclose anything but aggregate statistics. Personally identifying information is not shared with any other government agency.

As for the questions not reflecting intent? I'm not the least bit surprised that the questions lag behind their understanding of the social fabric. Changing the questions themselves requires an act of congress, but the agency is the one doing the interpretation and trying to ensure that what they get are meaningful and representative statistics.

Post by **DonnaT** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:50 pm

Some plan to make another box and insert "Other", others plan to mark their designated sex, but write "Transgender" beside it.

There are no penalties imposed by the Census Bureau.

Kimberly Kael · Post by **Kimberly Kael** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:02 pm

DonnaT wrote:Some plan to make another box and insert "Other", others plan to mark their designated sex, but write "Transgender" beside it.

There are no penalties imposed by the Census Bureau.

There's also queerthecensus.org for those who want to make a statement, but none of the above are actually recorded ... which doesn't mean it's not worth doing, just that it won't be reflected in the rolled up statistics.