Call to all U.S. GLBTQIs to refuse participation in the 2010 US Census

[keepCAblue]

Our neighborhood organization recently received a notice from our city government (San Jose) of an upcoming canvassing of our neighborhood by the U.S. Census Bureau who will be collecting data (address verifications, etc.) in preparation for the 2010 Census. Here is my response to the city's representative who sent the notice:

###############################

Dear Ms. Gambelin,

Thank you so much for the notice. Unfortunately, the U.S. Census Bureau has
opted to not include gay and lesbian citizens as a recognized minority in the
2010 census, nor will they accurately count legally married same-sex couples.
The U.S. Census Bureau has stated they will change any 2010 census forms
returned from a legally married same-sex couple to (falsely) reflect a marital
status of "unmarried, living together."

Due to the U.S. Census Bureau's refusal to count either our minority status or
our legal married status, my same-sex spouse and I will not willingly
participate or in any way cooperate with the U.S. Census Bureau until which time
such gross insults are corrected. We are also encouraging and compelling
ALL other American sexual minorities to abstain from participation as well.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX
San Jose, CA

[Political Heretic]

1. This is actually the worst idea ever. E-VER.

I deeply appreciate the sentiment, but a huge amount of advocacy and organizing groups as well as research and all kinds of other progressive activities that continue to help turn the tide of bigotry depend on the Census for information.

Will married status be accurately reflected? Nope, but a host of other things will be and we need the LGBTQ community to be represented.

The census is critically important to advocacy and research.

[keepCAblue]

3. How, specifically, will GLBTQI benefit from the census, if we are not being counted?

No, really, I'm serious: How, if our numbers as a minority nor our numbers as families or married couples are not counted, do we benefit?

To the head of the US Census, we are a "lifestyle"...so how can such an attitude in any way benefit us?

http://www.americablog.com/2009/03/us-census-spokesperson-calls-being-gay.html

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. We are being counted as residents and citizens

Thus, we are being counted for the purpose of representation in the House, for the purposes of allocation of federal monies to the states, for any number of reasons.

I don't know about you, but I am far more than just a gay man.

[Ms. Toad]

41. Those of us living as families are being counted

The 1990 census inadvertently gave the first official count of same sex couples because of the category "unmarried partners." They somehow didn't expect that same gender couples would mark that box to describe themselves - but we did, and they didn't quite know how to handle it.

It isn't perfect, and it misses people those of us who are single, but being counted so our existence cannot be denied is better than not being counted.

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. You are obligated to return the information required by the law

And the law requires only that an accurate count of people be reported. You have a right not to provide any other information.

[keepCAblue]

4. Civil disobedience. Just because it is the law, doesn't make it right. n/t

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. The accurate count is a Constitutional mandate

The census is a fundamental requirement for representation in the House. You hurt yourself and you hurt everyone in your state by not providing that information.

Beyond that, though, you have a basic right to privacy. While the government may try to coerce you to answer, you are under no legal or moral obligation to do so. If you take that route, answer the "How many are living at this address" question correctly, and leave the rest blank. I would also suggest adding a short, polite note about your refusal to answer more, so the do not think this is an accidental oversight. Tape or staple the note to the form: they are typically "scantron" and the tape or staple will force someone to remove the note and hopefully read it; otherwise it will just be thrown away.

[SacredCow]

37. That's how I understand it...

I received the "Long Form" of the 2000 census, and I couldn't believe some of the questions- They were insane!

They got the number of people living in the household, sex, age, and race. The rest I left blank.

[floridablue]

5. Sometimes you make it hard to support you.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

11. you as the OP, or you as the community. if its the latter, go fuck yourself. nt

[floridablue]

25. Snappy comeback. That always wins friends.

[mitchtv]

29. Answer the question

talk about snappy comback is this PJ O"rourke?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

32. i dont need bigots as friends. if your commitment to equality is so tenuous, i dont need you

dont you get that?

[Zuiderelle]

38. You're no friend.

[Toasterlad]

45. Still Waiting for That Answer, So I Know If You're a Douche Or Not.

[Eryemil]

27. "You"?!

If by some chance you mean the queer community you are certainly in the wrong place sugarcube.
Either elaborate or go spin on a lamp post.

You either stand with us or you don't; we are NOT your show dogs that you can simply bring out when it's time to flaunt how "progressive" you are.
Who would have thought that a hated and discriminated-against minority would be angry and willing to lash out? Shocking!

[Wildewolfe]

6. GLBTQI?

The string just keeps getting longer... what's the "I"?

[davidinalameda]

7. I think for some it means idiot

[Cronus Protagonist]

9. Intersex

Used to be called "Hermaphrodite", which is now an insult.

[Wildewolfe]

16. That's an insult?

It's the current scientific term for the condition. I looked it up on Wiki and Intersex is not accepted as the proper term it's been proposed. The direct quote is

"Recently, intersex has been used and preferred by many such individuals, encouraging medical professionals to use the term"

Looking up Intersex it mentions they're trying to abolish the term intersex from the medical community.

I'm not trying to be insensitive by any means, but please explain how that is insulting cause it's not obvious to me. The actual medical condition from reading the wiki stuff is hermaphrodism in some form which is biologically present throughout nature and appropriate to use in all instances except humans I guess where intersex is now an alternative term. Why is that now insulting? Again I'm not trying to be insensitive, I hadn't even ever heard of the term "Intersex" before this post and I'm trying to understand not be critical.

[Cronus Protagonist]

17. You should talk with an Intersex person, not me

I only report, I didn't make it up. By the way, I'm sure your intentions are neutral, but you sound like one of these people from the past who used to argue the clinical definition of "homosexual" against the word "gay" - both their arguments and yours come from the same model of thought.

[Wildewolfe]

20. well I'm pretty isolated from that community

though I do fully support their rights, so it's quite possible I do have the same model of thought whatever that is. To me homosexual and gay are interchangeable terms and neither has a negative connotation to me. Like I said Intersex is a new term to me so it left me with some questions. I don't want to inadvertantly insult someone, but I do like to understand WHY something is considered an insult.

[readmoreoften]

18. No, the actual term is intersexed. Hermaphrodite is a Victorian term based on Greek mythology.

Some intersex activists are trying to get rid of the term "intersexed" as well now because ignorant parents are unable to handle the designation and rushing their kids into all kinds of unnecessary surgeries. They've been floating a scientific euphemism/abstraction aimed at calming conservative parents who are screwing up their kids.

But hermaphrodite is used like the term "queer" in the intersexed community. When it's used by their community, fine because it's a historical term, but outsiders shouldn't be calling them hermaphrodites in the same way straight people ignorant of the LGBT should say "them queers".

[Cronus Protagonist]

19. Here's one person's life story with pictures

A very interesting topic:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/BornHermaphrodite/

[readmoreoften]

21. I know a few intersexed folks.

Use to date one.

[LeftyMom]

30. Hermaphrodite is not the scientific term for human intersex conditions.

A hermaphrodite has two FUNCTIONAL genital tracts, in other words they can both father a child and carry a pregnancy. This has never been observed in a human being and there is no known intersex condition in humans which would result in this happening. It does happen in some other animals as a means of ensuring reproduction during population bottlenecks or times of low mobility, but these species generally still reproduce sexually by preference, in order to maintain genetic diversity.

Intersex persons have some physical traits consistent with both sexes, which can result in either a functional genital tract with ambiguous external genitalia (an enlarged clitoris that looks like a penis, a small penis that could be mistaken for a clitoris, labia that could be mistaken for testes or vice versa) or internal differences effecting reproduction such as a "blind" vaginal vault or "gonadal streaks" which have not fully formed into either ovaries or testes.

I would suggest taking a college course in human sexuality. Fascinating stuff.

[Lost in CT]

35. Since when is Hermaphrodite an insult????

Should they send out an E-mail on these things.

[Brazenly Liberal]

12. I see where you're coming from, but I'm afraid this could do more harm than good.

Various fundings and community services are based on the census. If an area is largely gay (as are some neighborhoods in large cities) and a lot of the residents refused to participate, it could mean fewer government resources for that area for the next decade.

Just some of the ways census info is used:

--Drawing federal, state, and local legislative districts.

--Distributing ederal funds and state funds.

--Planning for hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and the location of other health services.

--Directing funds for services for people in poverty.

--Designing public safety strategies.

--Creating maps to speed emergency services to households in need of assistance.

--Designing facilities for people with disabilities, the elderly, or children.

--Reapportioning seats in the House of Representatives.

--Drawing school district boundaries.

--Planning for public transportation services.

--Planning health and educational services for people with disabilities.

--Developing adult education programs.

--Determining areas eligible for housing assistance and rehabilitation loans.

Look, I understand your anger. I'm pretty pissed that my brother and his husband will face this same demeaning discrimination. And I can sympathize with the need to take some sort of action. But this action could hurt the very people who are supposed to benefit from it.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

13. that is my fear too. nt

[Political Heretic]

15. It WILL do more harm than good.

Cut off the nose to spite the face and all that...

[NMMNG]

14. My wife and I are responding

And we're indicating on it that we are married. That, instead of refusing to complete it, is our form of protest to their blatant bigotry. We are not lying because they choose to ignore us. Let them do with the data what they wish, but it will be there.

Funny how they prefer we lie than be counted accurately. I thought that was against one of those Biblical "moral" thingies people are always preaching about.

[Ms. Toad]

42. That is what we will be doing, as well.

Since I worked the last census, I know they will remark my form, but we will accurately state our marital status.

[Gedankenaustausch]

22. hard decision but I think it tips over to the bad side.

Tons of gov't info, yes even info that benefits the gay population, relies off of census data. Unpaid college students crunch numbers from census data all day long in congressional leaders' offices. If we were to withhold that information it would be a grave mistake. We should all participate so we can be marginalized like other minorities in our country. (sarcasm) It's definitely a two-sided issue. The information can be used for us or against us. But, I personally think we have more to gain by participating since hating gays seems to not be en vogue these days.

[NorthCarolina]

23. Rather, I would suggest you return the form indicating "married"

and let the Bureau change it. A record of the actual reporting will still remain on the original form returned. Doing this will force them to *correct* several MILLION of these forms and this in itself will give them a very good unofficial/official idea of the count of LGBT citizens/couples.

[bluedawg12]

24. Two alternative endings and a tweak.

Some editing suggestions and a different approach, see ending II below.
......
Dear Ms. Gambelin,

We have received your notice about the 2010 US census. We note that the U.S. Census Bureau does not include gay and lesbian Americans as a recognized minority in the 2010 census, nor will the 2010 US Census count legally married same-sex couples and as members of a sexual minority.

The U.S. Census Bureau has stated they will change any 2010 census forms
which indicate that a same sex couples is legally married to reflect the US Census Bureau’s policy, the couple will be re-categorized as "unmarried, living together."

We protest this policy and we believe it to be unfair as it deny’s our representation in the US population. It is because we believe that an accurate census is important, that we protest not being counted as a same sex married couple.

Alternative ending I

Due to the U.S. Census Bureau's policy and refusal to count either our minority status as gay and lesbian Americans and the refusal to count our legal married status, my same-sex spouse and I will not participate in the U.S. Census while these policies are in effect and until they are changed. We are encouraging other Americans who are members of a sexual minority to act likewise and to abstain from participation as well.

Sincerely,

.........

Alternative ending II

Due to the U.S. Census Bureau's policy and refusal to count either our minority status as gay and lesbian Americans and the refusal to count our legally married status, my same-sex spouse and I will not participate with the U.S. Census Bureau in a policy that requires us to respond dishonestly, fails to recognize our existence as a married couple and fails to recognize our existence as a sexual minority and therefore, we will fill the form out truthfully and report our marital status accurately. Hopefully, in the near future such issues will no longer exist, as the US Census will come to count us as not only one whole adult human being, but will also count our marriage as that of two consenting adult human beings, as you now do with other married couples.

We are encouraging other Americans who are members of a sexual minority, or who are legally married same sex couples, to respond truthfully, as well.

Sincerely,


.........


Personally, I think alternative ending II makes more sense for the reasons mentioned by others in this thread.


Just wondering, how many people would feel comfortable openly answering about their sexuality for a Federal
data base?

Also, are they asking anything other than ethnic minority questions? Are there questions about religious minorities too? I really don't recall or know what they will ask. But, if they only ask about ethnic minority status, then adding sexual identity minority status may open up more demands to be counted by a variety of groups and that may concern them?

[bluedawg12]

26. This is interesting about the use of the census numbers for gay households

http://www.rockhawk.com/how_many_gay_people_are_there_in_america.htm

"http://www.myspace.com/rockhawk

Last Updated March 3rd, 2009

How many gay people are there in America?

As well as the problems outlined above in estimating the number of gay people, the geographical size and dense population presents an additional problem for anybody trying to calculate the number of gay people in America.

However, Alfred Kinsey carried out research in the 1940s and 1950s into the sexual behaviors of 12,000 men and women in America. Although his work has been heavily criticized it remains a rare and relatively authoritative study of sexual behaviors in America.

Amongst the men he found:

37% reported some homosexual contact;
13% reported more homosexual than heterosexual contact;
4% reported exclusively homosexual contact.
Amongst the women he found:

13% reported some homosexual contact;
4% reported more homosexual than heterosexual contact;
1% reported exclusively homosexual contact.
From these results Kinsey realized that not only were few people exclusively homosexual, but also far from the vast majority, particularly of men, were exclusively heterosexual. This led him to develop an orientation scale, which had exclusively heterosexual and exclusively homosexual at opposite ends with a wide middle range to cater for the majority of people who were neither.

More recently, data has been collected in America, during the ten-year national census, on married and unmarried-partner households. They did not ask the actual sexual orientation of the respondents, so there is no measure of single gay people, nor is their a measure of those gay people in committed relationships but not living together. Whilst the census cannot give us a figure for the number of people who are gay in America, it can inform us on how many same-sex partnership households identified themselves in the survey. The 2000 census tells us that

There are 105.5 million households in the USA.
5.5 million of these consist of unmarried partnerships,
Of these, 595,000 consist of same sex partners.
This can be interpreted as there being nearly 1.2 million gay people living with a same sex partner in America. This is a huge increase from the 1990 census, which identified only 145,000 same sex unmarried households. As with the NATSAL survey in the UK, there is undoubtedly a large amount of under reporting in these sorts of surveys. Possible explanations of this include continued prejudice and discrimination against gay people.3

There have been various other surveys in the US that have tried to measure numbers of gay people. An analysis of these surveys by the Human Rights Campaign came up with this conclusion.

'In the last three elections, the Voter News Service exit poll registered the gay vote between 4 percent and 5 percent. While concluding that the Census 2000 undercounted the total number of gay or lesbian households, for the purposes of this study, we estimate the gay and lesbian population at 5 percent of the total U.S. population over 18 years of age, (209,128,094). This results in an estimated total gay and lesbian population of 10,456,405. A recent study of gay and lesbian voting habits conducted by Harris Interactive determined that 30 percent of gay and lesbian people are living in a committed relationship in the same residence. Using that figure, we suggest that 3,136,921 gay or lesbian people are living in the United States in committed relationships in the same residence. '4

So, if we accept that the data presented by the Human Rights Commission is indeed indicative of the real numbers, then it shows that the census data is only showing up a small percentage of the actual number of gay people living in America. Until, however, a nationwide survey is done, asking questions on sexual attitudes and behaviors, then we can only use data and analyses, such as the ones above, to work out an answer to the question of gay people living in America."

[Eryemil]

28. This seems like a very bad idea to me. n|t

[pinto]

31. The census is vital to establishing our presence in the national statistics.

Does it meet our standards of equitable representation? No.

But opting out is opting for no representation at all, imho. It's better to be counted.

I see your point, yet fighting the census is the wrong battle. It's the record of note for a host of federal initiatives, and it's cited for ten years. A hidden population doesn't get counted. Gay, homeless, chronically unemployed and others - all need to be included in the federal record.

Here's CA stats from the 2000 census.

http://www.gaydemographics.org/USA/states/california/2000Census_state_ca.htm

I'd suggest a different tack. Encourage *all* GLBT citizens to make their orientation known on the census, as best they can given the format.

Thanks.

[TechBear_Seattle]

34. I think that is an excellent suggestion!

It would be interesting to see early examples of the 2010 census forms, to see where such an indication could be shown.

[Ellen Forradalom]

33. My opinion is that it's vitally important to be counted

and to mark yourself as MARRIED if indeed you are.

[Deep13]

36. So how many more House seats should Utah get?

If a higher % of gay people live in gay-friendly states, then refusing to participate may very well cost CA or NY House seats. That means more nut-case members of Congress from places like Utah.

[IntravenousDemilo]

39. If you wish to protest, withhold your taxes. If you don't participate in the census, you're just...

... shooting yourself in the foot, because it means that essentially you no longer exist.

[Zuiderelle]

40. Fail.

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

43. let's not cut off our noses to spite our faces this is not an appropriate way to protest

[TheWraith]

44. That's a very BAD idea.

The Census determines a whole host of important things, including congressional representation. Everything else aside, you're talking about deliberately underrepresenting areas which are the bluest in the country.

By the way, "encouraging and compelling ALL other American sexual minorities to abstain from participation"? Out of curiousity, what makes you feel you have the right to compel anyone to do anything?

[Toasterlad]

46. You Don't Fight People Trying to Remove Your Voice By Remaining Silent.

This is a TERRIBLE idea.

[Fearless]

47. TERRIBLE IDEA! WE MUST SHOW NUMBERS!

This is almost as bad as that damned day without a gay thing. It downplays our impact. We must do the exact opposite. We MUST be counted to show that we exist and we CANNOT be ignored.

FEARLESS.