Senator Baldwin and Representatives Schiff and Grijalva Denounce Exclusion of LGBT Data from Consideration for Census

Press Release

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) led 86 Members of Congress in sending a bicameral letter to the U.S. Census Bureau Director John Thompson and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney, expressing strong disapproval of the Census Bureau's decision to remove data collection on LGBT individuals for consideration for the 2020 Census and the American Community Survey (ACS). The Census Director said, "Our review concluded there was no federal data need to change the planned census and ACS subjects."

The federal government, states, and local communities use census data to determine how to allocate resources to meet the needs of certain populations. Despite this critical mission, no comprehensive federal population survey currently asks respondents to share their sexual orientation and gender identity, meaning that even the most basic of statistics -- the number of people who identify as LGBT -- is undeterminable.

Representative Grijalva and Senator Baldwin introduced the LGBT Data Inclusion Act last year which would require federal agencies to collect data on this population in federal population surveys to ensure policymakers have the data necessary to address the communities' needs. Representative Schiff led a letter for FY 2017 and FY 2018 to House appropriators requesting funding for the U.S. Census Bureau to conduct data collection on the LGBT community.

Source