Intersections: Getting the Census Done Right
Published 10/13/2020 · 0 Comments
Our Intersections series spotlights NEAT's advocacy on topics that are not typically framed as LGBTQ+ concerns. While these issues touch everyone, they frequently hit LGBTQ+ communities harder than most. Browse the full series on our blog.
Where the Census Stands and NEAT's Role
A recent court decision blocks the census from wrapping up early, though the administration has appealed and the timeline is still in flux. That is why NEAT is proud to back a bipartisan Senate bill from U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (Hawaii-D), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska-R), and Dan Sullivan (Alaska-R). The measure would push every statutory Census deadline back by four months and keep field work running through the end of this month. A matching bill was introduced in the House of Representatives.
The 2020 Census was unmistakably shaped by the COVID pandemic. Much of the nation was under lockdown during the period when counting should have peaked. The administration now aims to close the count in October and declare it finished. There are serious worries that an incomplete census will harm an unknown number of people in an unknown range of ways.
What the U.S. Census Is and Why It Matters
Federal law requires that virtually everyone in the country be counted once every ten years. The stakes are high: the count determines how many House of Representatives seats each state holds and how more than $1 trillion in taxpayer funds are distributed. Beyond that, census data shapes a wide range of other matters, including private-sector business planning, diversity and inclusion assessments, healthcare projections, academic research, and much more.
The original Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution states:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
Notice that the original text required counting all "free Persons," yet left out indigenous people unless they paid taxes and counted others (such as enslaved people) as only three-fifths of a person.
In 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, revising the language to:
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.
Today the sole exclusion is non-taxed indigenous people; everyone else is counted as part of the "whole number of persons." Notably, both the original and revised wording uses broad language about people, and neither says "citizens."
LGBTQ+ Communities and the Census
In recent years, advocates have pushed to add "SOGI" data to the census. SOGI stands for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. That goal was not achieved for this cycle, but we can keep pressing to include SOGI data in 2030. As one well-known saying about demographic data puts it: "You have to be counted to count."
Even without SOGI data this time, it is essential that the Census be completed as thoroughly and accurately as possible. Once that battle is won, we can turn to strengthening future cycles.
- Stay informed about census deadlines and court developments
- Support bipartisan efforts to extend the count
- Advocate for SOGI data in the 2030 census
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Sources and Further Reading
Court orders census counting to continue through Oct. 31
Schatz, Murkowski, Sullivan introduce bill to extend key 2020 Census deadlines