The 2010 U.S. Census is Going to Fail the LGBT Population

by Michael Jones · 2009-03-09 08:15:00 UTC
Topics:

U.S. Census Bureau

Whether the White House or the Commerce Department ends up controlling the 2010 U.S. Census doesn't matter.  The basic point about the 2010 U.S. Census is this: it will, once again, fail to accurately count this country's LGBT population, and will completely and utterly discriminate against gay and lesbian families.

Why?  Because of DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act.  Citing DOMA, the U.S. government says that it would be illegal to count same-sex partners and identify them as gay and lesbian couples, since same-sex unions aren't recognized on a federal level.  Moreover, for same-sex couples who have children, the injustice is even graver.  Same-sex couples with kids won't even be listed as "families" on the 2010 U.S. census, and children will be listed as "belonging to single parents."

Sharon Raphael, a teacher at Cal State Dominguez Hills, summed up the impact of this beautifully in the Contra Costa Times: "...census data is very important to our existence, and I don't like it when they leave things out, it causes an undercount....it just makes us more invisible."

More invisible.  That will be the end result of the 2010 U.S. Census when it comes to the LGBT population of this country.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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