For many in the LGBT community, the 2010 census marks the beginning of a not-so-quiet revolution in a push for greater official recognition. \u00a0Activists in the LGBT community have been boisterously encouraging greater participation in the census and will be closely monitoring the results.<\/p>\n

The good news is that the Obama administration, delivering an under-reported jolt of positive change to the federal government\u2019s data-collection system, has reversed the Bush-era policy on the reporting of same-sex relationships in the census and committed to publishing an official report on LGBT relationships.<\/p>\n

According to Change.org<\/a>, an organization whose mission is to provide a \u201cplatform for informing and empowering movements for social change,\u201d since the 1990 census, gay and lesbian couples have been self-identifying their relationships either as married or unmarried partners.\u00a0 In the 2000 census almost 600,000 same-sex couples self-reported.<\/p>\n

This year, gay and lesbian couples may choose to report their relationships by marking either the \u201chusband and wife\u201d or the \u201cunmarried partner\u201d box, depending on how the couples themselves define their relationships. Still, according to The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, this option does not go far enough in actually counting gay and lesbian couples. Lacking a specific question asking for gender identity or sexual orientation renders LGBT couples \u201cinvisible in the survey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although officially counting gay and lesbian relationships within an all-inclusive category of cohabiting partners represents a giant step forward, the LGBT community has set its sights on the larger goal of advocating for a distinct demographic count. The expectation is that an LGBT census category would yield data reflecting the full diversity of the community. The implications of these changes are far-reaching and in all likelihood would be a political game-changer. As a recognized demograpchic group, LGBT political organizations would be empowered to lobby for the community\u2019s interests and compete for federal dollars.<\/p>\n

With the goal of official recognition in mind, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has launched an ambitious project to push for change called \u201cQueer the Census<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Task Force\u2019s message is loud and proud:\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re here.\u00a0 We\u2019re queer.\u00a0 And we want you to ask us about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 100,000 bright pink stickers declaring \u201cIt\u2019s Time to Count Everyone\u201d have been sent to members of the gay and lesbian community, straight supporters, and participating organizations. If all goes as planned, the census office should receive a wave of hot pink as the census forms are returned sealed with the stickers.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not part of the LGBT community, and you\u2019re asking yourself, \u201cWhy should I care who is or isn\u2019t counted,\u201d\u00a0 the answer is simple.\u00a0 An official count means official recognition.\u00a0 And official recognition of our friends, family members, neighbors, and co-workers for who they are and how they actually live their lives\u2014including their sexual orientation\u2014signals that we are moving steadily toward the promise of a more tolerant and socially just society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For many in the LGBT community, the 2010 census marks the beginning of a not-so-quiet revolution in a push for greater official recognition. \u00a0Activists<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":1917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[255,16],"tags":[303,354,355],"yoast_head":"\n