The national population survey that takes place once every decade is all about being counted and included.
But a question on the 2020 Census is expected to increase participation by a segment of the population that historically has been undercounted and, as a result, felt excluded.
For the first time ever, Americans who identify as LGBTQ have some options when answering a census question about their household relationships. They can choose to identify a significant other as “Same-sex husband/wife/spouse” or “Same-sex unmarried partner.”
The hope is that being counted in the census will result in more recognition for the LGBTQ community. It’s why members of that community might respond in greater numbers to the census, a decennial enumeration that’s mandated in the Constitution and dates back to 1790.
“I filled out the census myself, with my girlfriend, a few months ago,” said Jackie Garcia, director of marketing and development for the LGBTQ+ Center OC in Santa Ana.
Garcia, who has been together with her partner Ana Diaz for nearly four years, added:
“It’s really special to be seen as a legitimate couple.”
For the first time ever, Americans who identify as LGBTQ have some options when answering a census question about their household relationships. They can choose to identify a significant other as “Same-sex husband/wife/spouse” or “Same-sex unmarried partner.”
The hope is that being counted in the census will result in more recognition for the LGBTQ community. It’s why members of that community may respond in greater numbers to the census, a decennial enumeration that’s mandated in the Constitution and dates back to 1790.
“I filled out the census myself, with my girlfriend, a few months ago,” said Jackie Garcia, director of marketing and development for the LGBTQ+ Center OC in Santa Ana.
Garcia, who has been together with her partner Ana Diaz for nearly four years, added:
“It’s really special to be seen as a legitimate couple.”
There’s also a practical benefit to wider participation in the census: Money.
At stake is a portion of more than what the U.S. Census Bureau estimates will be $675 billion in federal dollars to be doled out every year nationwide, over the next 10 years. (Other organizations peg federal funding at different levels.)
Some of that money could be distributed in the form of community block grants and help fund programs germane to the LGBTQ community. These include HIV emergency relief grants, housing assistance and adoption services, among others.
“There are a lot of programs that the LGBTQ community relies on and uses,” said Jeannette Durán Pacheco, a media specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau’s regional office in Los Angeles and a resident of Orange County.
“The more accurate and precise the count, the more money those programs receive,” Pacheco added.
‘Queer the Census’
To encourage participation, advocates are implementing a nationwide public outreach campaign called “Queer the Census.” As part of that push, Center OC, working with the nonprofit Community Action Partnership Orange County, is informing the local LGBTQ community about the new feature on the 2020 Census.
The group recorded an upbeat public service announcement on Zoom, hosted by two drag queens, with help from a diverse group that included employees of Community Action Partnership and the Center, including Garcia. The nearly 10-minute PSA, and other bite-sized snippets, is being promoted on the Center’s social media channels — Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (hashtag #QueerTheCensus) — and by Community Action Partnership on Twitter and Facebook.
That’s in addition to a last-minute push for the first stage of the census. Advocates are seeking broader LGBTQ response before August, when the Census Bureau launches a field operation that will send census workers to knock on doors of households that haven’t yet responded, either online, by phone or through the mail. Among those participating are LGBTQ Center Long Beach and national groups, such as the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce and National LGBT Health Education Center. There’s even a queerthecensus.org website.
Some advocates point out that the 2020 Census still falls short of full inclusion. Gender selections, for example, remain “male” and “female,” with no option for non-binary people.
That said, those who took part in the Center OC’s video say the 2020 Census represents a historic moment for their community.
“I love it. I’m a person that praises victory,” said Fermin Bello, Miss Gay Pride Long Beach 2018, who performs as drag queen Nomi B and is a co-host on the promotional video, along with Yuhua Ou of New York City.
“It’s a small inclusion, but still an inclusion.”
Ou’s stage name, Yuhua Hamasaki, would be familiar to viewers of the 10th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on VH1. It’s Ou, a Chinese American immigrant, who provides the last word of encouragement in the PSA.
“Get counted! Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your cousins, tell your lovers and everyone you know,” Ou says, ticking off the checklist one finger at a time.
“Share this video and share the love and education.”
Virtual events planned
California is home to 1.3 million LGBTQ residents. How many live in Orange County is unclear.
What is known is that about 14,400 same-sex couples live in the county, and that some 98,150 couples live in the state, said Jonatan Gutiérrez, immigration outreach coordinator at LGBTQ+ Center OC and point man for his organization’s Queer the Census effort.
Those population figures are drawn from research by the Williams Institute at UCLA Law, a leader in studying sexual orientation and gender identity law and policy.
Gutiérrez called the same-sex option on the census, “a big win for us,” but added “there is still so much work to to do to make sure that LGBTQ individuals and couples are counted in the census.”
To help promote census participation, Community Action Partnership received $125,000 in public and private backing, said Sarah Middleton, census consultant with another nonprofit, Charitable Ventures, that is overseeing the project funding.
But Queer the Census is part of a broader outreach aimed at getting more census buy-in from other groups that have been historically undercounted.
An upcoming OC Census Week of Action is planned to include local members of Congress and organizations such as as Latino Health Access, Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, and NALEO Educational Fund. (NALEO stands for National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.)
The week kicks off with a virtual town hall, Monday, July 27, from 4 to 5 p.m. at @OCCensus on Facebook. After that, volunteers (sign ups continue at bit.ly/occounts) will operate “Get Out the Count” phone banks, Tuesday through Friday, July 28-31. And a “Rock the Count” virtual concert on Facebook Live is planned noon-3 p.m. on Friday, July 31.
Center OC hoped to talk up census participation during the annual OC Pride festival, which was scheduled to take place in June. But that was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Zoom PSA was a safe option to gather a group of people together to deliver the same message.
Lauren Nguyen, an outreach technician at Community Action Partnership, came up with the idea for drag queens to host the Queer the Census spot. Nguyen is a big fan of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
“It makes it a little bit more fun to have that pizzazz that the drag queens bring,” said Yesenia Hernandez, who coordinates outreach for Community Action Partnership.
Bello, dressed as Nomi B in a big-hair blonde wig and false eyelashes that would make Betty Boop jealous, also worked on another informational video about the census — aimed at the Latinx community — with 10 other drag queens. Bello, 28, grew up in Santa Ana but has lived in Long Beach for more than six years.
To Bello, the videos are a public service.
In the world of drag, Bello said, “we’re constantly discussing important issues and fighting the fight. If I do this video, my friends and my fans are going to watch it because I’m in it.
“So why not educate them at the same time?”
Overcoming mistrust
The PSA addresses some fears about the census, such as confidentiality and sharing of personal information with other government agencies. Such actions are prohibited by law, but many people believe the law is ignored. Certain segments of the population — the LGBTQ community, ethnic minorities and non-English speakers — have shunned participation in the census, largely because of mistrust.
Last year, theTrump Administration’s push to add a citizenship question to the census was met with backlash over fears that immigrant households would be even less inclined to fill out census forms. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked the citizenship question, but President Trump injected new controversy this week with a directive to exclude undocumented immigrants when apportioning congressional seats, a bid that already has drawn legal challenges.
Questions about who is who in a household have been asked on the census dating back to 1880. That year, in fact, the question was put this way: “Relationship of each person to the head of this family — whether wife, son, daughter, servant, boarder or other.” Today, the category offers 16 boxes that can be checked, including the same-sex options and others such as adopted son or daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, foster child, roommate or housemate.
In 2019, the Census Bureau made its first ever estimates on the numbers of same-sex couples, listing that data in its America’s Families and Living Arrangements graphics table. Changes were also made to allow gender-neutral parent identification.
Pacheco said the Census Bureau actually does more than 100 surveys every year, such as the American Community Survey, and constantly produces data that is made public. But the information from the decennial census is only released 72 years after it is collected.
So far, the overall self-response rate for all people living in Orange County is about 70.5%. In the 2010 Census, the county’s total response rate was 71.7%.
Pacheco said having Center OC support the census adds a “trusted voice.” Other partners that the Census Bureau has enlisted to spread the word in undercounted communities include Starbucks coffeehouses, Northgate Market, local school districts, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County.
“We know they are trusted communities in these cities. It’s different than when the Census Bureau tells them you should participate.”
Source: Orange County Register
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