Census pushes to get LGBTQ+ Americans counted in key pandemic survey
The Census Bureau wants to begin including questions about sexual orientation and gender identity in one of its surveys, according to a Federal Register notice filed Thursday.
The questions would be added to the Household Pulse Survey, which asks about things like childcare, food security and household spending to learn how the pandemic is affecting America's households.
It could be a first step to collect more inclusive and accurate data on America's LGBTQ+ population. In last year's decennial nationwide Census, married and unmarried same-sex couples were counted for the first time.
But there's still a bit more bureaucracy to be dealt with before the questions end up in the survey, as the Office for Management and Budget has to OK the revisions. If it does, data collection on sexual orientation and gender identity could commence in late July, painting a more accurate picture of how LGBTQ+ Americans are dealing with life through the pandemic.
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