LGBT & The Census count: What’s new, Why it matters.

The Census doesn’t just collect information, it educates people. It helps people discover the trends that affect their daily lives. That part of the Census Bureau is called the 2010 Census Partnership and Data Services Program. The man who runs the program for the nation recently paid a visit to the Los Angeles region.

Tim Olson was here for a first-of-its-kind event. But first, a little background.

Under Olson’s direction, the Partnership Program conducts outreach to the many “hard-to-count” or “HTC” populations of the nation. The Census Bureau identifies “hard-to-count” populations in many ways: language barriers, illiteracy, cultural fear or distrust of government. Add to that those who may feel disenfranchised for economic, ethnic or racial reasons. It can be hard to put the form in to the hands of others because they don’t always live in the same place: this applies to snowbirds, college students, and people experiencing homelessness, among others. Among the many “hard-to-count” are the unknown number people in the nation who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). Census Partnership outreach staff educate “hard-to-count” people about why we do the Census, and why participation is safe, easy and important to the lives of those they care about. Historically, one of most effective ways to educate people is through community-run groups called Complete Count Committees (CCC’s). Although Governments and community groups around the nation have formed over 8000 CCC’s on the Census, no CCC’s are focused on the LGBT community.

Your browser may not support display of this image. That changed this week in California. For the first time ever in the nation, LGBT committees on the Census were formed. Olson appeared for the kickoff of the Los Angeles LGBT Complete Count Committee – and called the crowd to action.

“Because this is a historic census for the LGBT community, it’s really in our hands to embrace that,” he charged, “and to do something with that.” He called on LGBT community members to reach out to their friends and family, to talk about why the Census is important, and to urge them to join LGBT complete count committees. Olsen says that community leaders around the country plan to launch similar grassroots groups on the Census. San Francisco plans a round table discussion and committee launch for October 22. “I know New York is engaged, Philadelphia is engaged, Boston’s engaged, Atlanta, Dallas. Around the country this kind of energy is starting to rise. There are 3000 outreach workers throughout the country who are doing the kind of work that Matt [Weinstein] is doing.”

Matt Weinstein is the outreach specialist in Los Angeles who works with the LGBT community. The first thing you notice about Matt is how young he is. He’s got bright blue eyes and an affable way about him. And what an impressive resume: at 28, Weinstein has organized outreach and political campaign efforts in 8 states. He coordinated the Obama campaign’s volunteer operations in two states. “I’m a nice guy, I’m a good guy, but I’m a Bureaucrat. The simple fact is, when most people in the Los Angeles LGBT community get their census form in the mail in March, and they are looking at it and trying to figure out how to fill it out –or whether to fill it out—they aren’t going to want to hear it from some Bureaucrat. They are going to want to hear it from the people they know the people they know, the people they trust, and the organizations they are involved in. That’s why we have complete count committees.”

Your browser may not support display of this image. Weinstein organized both the historic LGBT Census committee and the CCC’s kickoff event in Los Angeles. He asked that people distribute promotional items and informational materials. He called for groups to post Census information in their newsletters and email blasts. He called for race, ethnicity and language subcommittees within the LGBT Census CCC. He also urged sub-committees by HIV service organizations, LGBT faith groups, and social groups: “anything from athletic groups to dinner groups, to LGBT parenting and play groups. Everyone in the room I’m sure has an email list.” Already LGBT groups in other parts of the country have heard about the kickoff of the CCC in LA and have contacted the Census about starting their own LGBT CCC’s.

So why would someone want to join a complete count committee? In short, Census participation leads to money and political power. Population data from the Census is used to determine allocation of 435 seats in the House of Representatives and over $400 billion in federal funding every year –for the next decade. For any particular minority group, Census participation can also lead to visibility.

It’s hard to ignore the civil rights of a population when its number is known. Lorri Jean, CEO of the L.A. Gay and lesbian pointed out that data on from the 2000 census on “unmarried partners living together” showed the nation that gay and lesbian couples were living in 99% of the counties in the nation. And the recognition is paying off. The day before the LGBT Census committee kickoff, her organization was given word it would receive a federal grant to expand its program for the elderly. Over three years, the grant will be worth more than $1 million. “This is the first time in history that the administration on aging has given a grant to an LGBT organization. One of the reasons is that we were able to make some demographic arguments about LGBT seniors.”

The Census acknowledges the LGBT population by counting couples. The form counts same-sex couples who are living together, whether they identify themselves as married or as unmarried partners. It doesn’t directly ask about sexual orientation of individuals. Gary Gates, the nation’s leading LGBT demographer points out, “While counting couples [instead of individuals] sounds like a limitation –and in some ways it is– it’s important to remember that lots of the civil rights issues within the LGBT communities deal with couples. Whether it’s relationship recognition, joint-adoption issues, domestic partner benefits or immigration rights: a lot of those issues are about couples rather than individuals, and in that sense, the Census has been an amazing tool.”

Changing the way the Census form asks questions takes years. The format of the form is locked several years before the survey takes place. The forms for 2010 have already begun printing. The process of changing the way the Census asks questions takes time and consideration. Currently, five Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees (REAC) of community leaders advise the Census on decennial issues and policy change recommendations. The Secretary of Commerce determines final Advisory Committee appointments. Currently, five separate race and ethnic committees advise the Census Bureau on decennial issues: the African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Advisory Committees. These REAC committees have been active since 1970, and are very different in purpose from Complete Count Committees. The first advises the Census on issues, the second advises its own community about how the Census affects it.

So what is new in the 2010 Census for the LGBT community?

1) For the first time the Bureau is doing explicit outreach to the LGBT community. Olson gathered 20 of the LGBT outreach specialists from around the country earlier that day for their first strategy session.

2) The formation of LGBT Complete Count Committees on the Census.

3) The 2010 Census will release the data it collects on same-sex partners – both married and unmarried.

4) The Census has launched a study regarding how to change future surveys to get more accurate information on legal marriage, domestic partnership, and unmarried partners.

But what is new is different from what is historic about the 2010 Census for the LGBT communities. The Census first recorded data on lesbian and gay people in relationships in 2000 when it included a relationship box for “unmarried couples living together.” In 2000, the contract of marriage between two people of the same sex didn’t yet exist legally. Same-sex couples who indicated they were married in 2000 were counted as unmarried partners – in accordance with the Defense of Marriage Act. The Census Bureau recently announced a policy change. When gay and lesbian couples indicate that they are married on the 2010 form, the Census will count them as married. This makes the Census the first Federal agency to recognize same sex marriage. And that is historic.

During the kickoff event, the regional director of Census operations, Mr. James Christy called attention to another historic moment in history. “The evolution of census questions gives us insight in to who we are as a nation. And usually the census lags behind society.”

Your browser may not support display of this image. There was a time when the Constitution considered people of color – slaves in particular – as just 3/5 of a person for the Census. “We hear that now and it seems unconscionable to us. I mean – - it just seems crazy. Then the 14th Amendment came and changed that.”

As Christy discussed the nation’s civil rights history, he said he sees this as a very historic moment in time. He tells the audience that by participating, “You are a part of history.” He says that the unprecedented LGBT outreach “is something that two years ago, was inconceivable at the Census Bureau.”

“It’s truly a remarkable event for us as an agency. But I think it’s an even more remarkable event for us as a country.”