So this is interesting: according to the Associated Press, the Census Bureau is currently considering adding some questions about sexuality and gender identity to the American Community Survey — and, if I’m reading the piece right, possibly to the 2030 census as well.
There is a part of me — the part that loves data — that is very excited about this change. In recent years, polling companies like Gallup and Pew have found that increasing numbers of people are openly identifying as LGBTQ; conservative groups have publicly had temper tantrums over data showing that a third of young people identify as queer, with the vast majority of them aligning with bisexuality.
So the idea of the census adding to that data… I dunno, it just feels cool? I’m aware that surveys are imperfect and many people who are queer might not feel comfortable identifying as such on a government survey, but for me personally, the idea of being able to stand up and be counted as a Bisexual American™️ feels kind of exciting. We’re here, we’re queer, if the government has official documentation of our existence maybe they’ll finally be compelled to do something to address our needs. You can’t claim to be underrepresented if no one knows how many of you there are, you know?
But also: I get why people would be hesitant, too. I get why, in these hostile times, it might not feel great to tell the government that you are a queer — and particularly that you are trans — and how it may feel like setting yourself up for some secret police to come knocking at your door one day. I get why it might feel invasive, uncomfortable, and why all of these things might contribute to an undercount — an undercount which would undermine everything that makes me excited about the possibility in the first place.
Also? Let’s take a look at the proposed phrasing for the sexuality question:
Which of the following best represents how Name thinks of themselves?
Possible answers: Gay or lesbian; Straight—that is not gay or lesbian; Bisexual; and This person uses a different term (with space to write-in a response).
I get that they’re pitching this widely, and not just to people who know what Autostraddle is, but the phrasing of those answers, and specifically the definition of “straight” gives me pause. To say that straight is “not gay or lesbian” suggests that straight is significantly broader a category than most of us would think; indeed, it suggests that a range of queer identities, including but not limited to bisexuality, could be considered “straight.”
Can we actually trust people who phrase a question that way to secure an accurate count of America’s queers?
And if we can’t… what actual purpose do these survey questions serve?
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