The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has partnered with Credo Mobile to help you “Queer the Census” by signing a petition and sealing your census form with a special sticker. Both can be found at the Task Force’s "Queer the Census" Web site.
The petition supports the inclusion of questions that would bring LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people to the attention of the Census Bureau and the U.S. government.
The sticker is bright pink and says, “Attn: U.S. Census Bureau: It’s time to count everyone!” It provides a checklist that allows you to check off lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or straight ally (or, presumably, more than one selection, since trans people can be any sexual orientation). You can then use the sticker to seal your census form.
The purpose of the “Queer the Census” campaign is to make the U.S. Census Bureau aware of the existence of LGBT people while protesting the fact that there are no questions on the 2010 census form dealing with sexual orientation or gender identity.
According to the “Queer the Census” Web site:
“It's crazy — the U.S. Census Bureau wants an accurate count of everyone in the country — but there's no question in the survey that asks if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
You read that right: LGBT people are basically invisible in the survey that is supposed to reflect the diversity of America's population — and that's a big problem.”
Because census data is used to plan various programs and services that address the needs of U.S. citizens, the exclusion of LGBT data can lead to the invisibility of these populations when planning for services and resources.
You can order one “Queer the Census” sticker for free, and more for a small fee. The site also has an FAQ section to help LGBT people with questions they might have about filling out the form.
In the future, the existence of LGBT people will hopefully be recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau, providing better data and better estimates about the size of our population.
Comments
Despite all the hype, the Federal Government is still bigotted on this and so many other issues.
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