A brief history of how the U.S. Census has evolved in its sexual and gender representation
Some months back - say, last year, even - we dedicated an article here to highlighting how American Indians and Alaskan Natives have been represented by the United States Census Bureau over the centuries. It was in celebration of American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, and with it being June now it felt appropriate to briefly highlight a similar story for the expansion of LGBTQ+ representation in the various censuses as well.
With every passing year the United States Census continues to grow and expand in who it represents and how they are represented. Case in point: It wasn't until 2021 that respondents to a Census Bureau sponsored survey were explicitly asked their sexual orientation, marking a major step in the adequate tabulation of LGBTQ+ identity in the nation. This was a question included in the Household Pulse Survey as conducted by the American Community Survey that included additional questions about the respondent's gender identity as well.
Prior to 2021, there technically were questions related to sexual orientation - but only in the context of household couples. For any census table sleuths you'd recognize these categories as "same sex household" or "same sex spouses." In terms of the timeline by which incorporating same sex couples into the census occurred, it wasn't until the 1990s that same sex couples were counted by recognizing when respondents identified the sex of their spouse - prior to this, tabulations typically made them opposite sex couples regardless. Come 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act resulted in any reporting of same sex couples to be instead identified as unmarried same sex partners. It wasn't until 2013 that any of the Census Bureau's surveys - the ACS, in this case - retained the reporting of the couples' sexual orientation and identity. Over time, especially with support from the results of Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015, the other surveys began to reflect this change in data collection.
As far back as at least 2018, there had been plans to begin introducing questions related to sexual and gender identity that were ultimately blocked by the presidential administration at the time. Even with the great strides made since then there are still many ways in which the censuses can improve, but a lot of that hinges on how to sensitively handle the topic as acquiring accurate data while maintaining individual privacy can be difficult. As a result, the Census Bureau has attempted to invest in research on how to approach this topic.
Several ways in which the census' research can be considered limiting is, for example, when for the 2020 Decenniel Census an LGBTQ+ individual couldn't be accurately recorded for being in a different-sex relationship or in no relationship at all. Until the 2030 Decenniel takes place, the works under the ACS serve as meaningful testing grounds for how to safely and accurately record the identities of everyone - including with the very constant and ever evolving Household Pulse Survey, the dang thing this whole article started with.
For more information, perhaps presented in a visually appealing manner, you can see the Household Pulse Survey's results on sexual orientation and gender identity here.
Header image sourced with permission from Poorna Chandra Ghanta.
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