The US Census and LGBT Households (ourfamiliescount.org)

[pinto]

Went to a presentation tonight by a rep from the US Census Bureau, Partnership Specialist, LGBT Communities. The 2010 census data algorithm has been geared to get a better count of same sex households. Married or not, legal or not - that's not their purview. What they want is a better count of American households. That's a big part of their job.

And in the broader sense, of course, the census remains the basic instrument for every 10 year reapportionment of House districts. It's mandated in the Constitution and I think we ought to help meet that mandate. ~ pinto

The U.S. Census and LGBT Households

Every 10 years, under our Constitution, the U.S. Census Bureau attempts to conduct an accurate count of all Americans and households, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans and our families.

Census statistics guide many vital government decisions. Federal and state governments use census numbers to form congressional district boundaries and to distribute billions of dollars for social services. Non-profit organizations use census statistics to plan services for individuals and their families, influencing the locations for schools, roads and hospitals, for example.

Make sure to participate in the 2010 Census and be counted!

http://ourfamiliescount.org/

[TexasObserver]

1. Too late to recommend, but I'll kick it up anyway.

[Meeker Morgan]

2. Gathering statistics so they can "do good"? Be afraid.

1940. Japanese Americans.
1890. The "feeble minded".

I will not be cooperating with the census.

[pinto]

3. Your choice, of course, yet I'm sorry to hear that.

The Partnership Specialist was pretty adamant about the Bureau's commitment to get a more accurate picture of GLBT communities in the US. And their commitment to maintain the privacy laws and regulations they are bound to uphold.

As one example, he noted that in counts prior to 2000 same sex households that marked Husband / Wife or Unmarried Partner as the relationship, the computer algorithm automatically counted them as Roommates. In 2000 that was changed and he said the count that year showed that 99% of Counties in the US had same sex households that responded as either married or unmarried partners. (That was an eye opener for many in the Bureau, he noted, ironically.)

Similarly, since individual, single GLBTers aren't counted, the Bureau came up with a statistical guesstimate - every same sex household represented another 12 single GLBT citizens. (How they arrived at that, he didn't know. He's not a statistician.)

Every major regional office has a Partnership Specialist, LGBT Communities. The offices are listed under US Dept of Commerce, US Census Bureau in the phone book.

He said they welcome and encourage questions about privacy concerns, uses of the census data, etc. etc.