U.S.A.: LGBTQ+ questions begin the test phase for the Census Bureau’s annual community survey
September 6, 2024The U.S.A. Census Bureau has started testing its questions on sexual orientation and gender identity in preparation for the American Community Survey (ACS). The White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the survey in August, with results set to be published in early 2026.
President Joe Biden has directed federal agencies to enhance their methods for collecting LGBTQ+ demographic data, and on July 11, OMB officials approved the new questions. According to ‘LGBTQ Nation’, a spokesperson for the federal agency informed the Bay Area Reporter last week, “As planned, the 2024 American Community Survey SOGI [sexual orientation and gender identity data]. Test is underway. The test began earlier this month [August] and will continue through late 2024. The Census Bureau will publish the results of the test roughly 18 months later.”
The ACS is a federal survey distributed monthly to 295,000 U.S.A. households, including those in Puerto Rico. It helps the government gather housing and socioeconomic data, which the Census Bureau claims enables them to “provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.”
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Nancy Bates, a lesbian and former Census Bureau official, described the testing of SOGI questions as a significant step forward that will help the organisation better understand and improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people in the United States.
Bates expressed to the Bay Area Reporter, “I am heartened to hear that testing of both gender identity and sexual orientation are underway in the American Community Survey. This is a watershed moment for both the Census Bureau and the entire US federal statistical system. I eagerly await the findings and ultimate implications this will have for the LGBTQI+ community.”
Currently, the ACS collects data on same-sex households, similar to the decennial census. However, it has not yet gathered individual SOGI data for each person living at the 3.5 million addresses that receive the annual survey. The permanent inclusion of LGBTQ+ demographic questions in the survey will depend on the outcomes of the testing phase and is still some years away.
Meeta Anand, senior director of the conference’s census and data equity program, and Caroline Medina, director of policy at the Whitman-Walker Institute, both emphasised the importance of adding these questions.
Their blog post states, “Ensuring inclusive and responsible SOGI data collection on the ACS would provide a more comprehensive picture of the needs and experiences of LGBTQI+ communities so they can be better reflected in policies, programs, funding investments, and enforcement of civil rights laws — including those to protect LGBTQI+ people from discrimination and ensure equal opportunity.”
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