The U.S. Census Bureau is now testing sexual orientation and gender identity questions on its American Community Survey. It received approval from the White House's Office of Management and Budget to begin with the August survey and expects to publish the results sometime in early 2026.
With President Joe Biden issuing a directive to see better federal collection of LGBTQ demographic data two years ago during Pride Month in June, it had been expected that OMB officials would sign off on adding the SOGI questions to the census' survey. It did so on July 11.
As the Bay Area Reporter had reported in May, census officials' target for launching the test had been this month.
"As planned, the 2024 American Community Survey SOGI Test is underway. The test began earlier this month (August) and will continue through late 2024. The Census Bureau will publish the results of the test roughly 18 months later," a spokesperson for the federal agency wrote Thursday in an emailed reply to the B.A.R.
Known as the ACS for short, the federal questionnaire is sent monthly to 295,000 households in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. It is an ongoing collection of detailed housing and socioeconomic data, which the census bureau notes, allows it "to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography."
Former census bureau official Nancy Bates, a lesbian who is an expert on SOGI data collection, told the B.A.R. August 29 that the ACS testing the SOGI questions is a substantial development in the effort to see accurate data on the lives of LGBTQ Americans. Many LGBTQ advocates are hopeful it is another step toward seeing such questions be added to the decennial census forms, though it remains to be seen if it will be as soon as the 2030 count of the nation's population.
"I am heartened to hear that testing of both gender identity and sexual orientation are underway in the American Community Survey. This is a watershed moment for both the Census Bureau and the entire US federal statistical system," Bates, vice chair of a 2030 census advisory committee, wrote in an emailed reply. "I eagerly await the findings and ultimate implications this will have for the LGBTQI+ community."
The ACS already collects data on same-sex households, similar to the decennial census forms, but has yet to gather individual SOGI data on every person residing at the 3.5 million addresses annually sent the survey to fill out. A decision to permanently include the LGBTQ demographic questions on the survey is still years away and will be impacted by the results of the testing phase.
"I think the first thing I would say is to note this is just a test. Just because we are testing material doesn't guarantee it is going to move forward on to the official questionnaire," Andrew Roberts, a gay man who is chief of the sex and age statistics branch in the census bureau's population division, had told the B.A.R. in the spring. "That process to move between testing and implementation is lengthy. We don't have a specific time frame we can give you."
The questions
Under the testing proposal the monthly survey's third question would ask what a person's sex was assigned at birth, while question four would inquire about the person's current gender. The answers given as options on the ACS would include transgender and nonbinary, plus there would be a box to write in whatever term used by the person.
Question 26 on the ACS would ask about a person's sexual orientation with four different options listed. The first would be "gay or lesbian." Second would be "straight, that is not gay or lesbian." Third would be "bisexual," with a fourth option to write in a different term used by the person.
For the hundreds of thousands of households sent the ACS to fill out, one person is asked to respond to the survey on behalf of their entire household. The SOGI questions on it are to be asked about people 15 years of age or older, and the form can be responded to online, by paper questionnaire, or by phone.
In a blog post uploaded Thursday officials at the Whitman-Walker Institute and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights noted that even with adding SOGI questions to the ACS, there will be limitations to the data collected on LGBTQ Americans.
"Currently, like the decennial census, the ACS allows for respondents to indicate that they're part of a same-sex cohabitating couple. Notably, that population only represents 1 in 6 LGBTQI+ adults, resulting in major information gaps that need to be addressed," noted the post.
Therefore, co-authors Meeta Anand, senior director of the conference's census and data equity program, and Whitman-Walker Institute director of policy Caroline Medina, argued that adding the SOGI questions to the ACS is of great importance.
"Ensuring inclusive and responsible SOGI data collection on the ACS would provide a more comprehensive picture of the needs and experiences of LGBTQI+ communities so they can be better reflected in policies, programs, funding investments, and enforcement of civil rights laws — including those to protect LGBTQI+ people from discrimination and ensure equal opportunity," wrote Anand and Medina.
Among the letters regarding the SOGI testing that OMB received was one dated May 28 sent on behalf of lesbian Massachusetts Governor Maura T. Healey and her state's public health department. Officials in the Bay State had called for adding the SOGI questions to the census survey because doing so would assist in their state's efforts to better address the health needs of their LGBTQ residents.
"The proposed SOGI questions will directly influence our ability to address these inequities and improve health outcomes across the Commonwealth," wrote state health commissioner Dr. Robert Goldstein and assistant commissioner Dr. Sai Cherala, director of the state health department's Office of Population Health.
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