Dear Doug,
The U.S. Census: it happens only once every ten years, and this year it’s our turn to make sure the Census Bureau knows that everyone deserves to be counted.
You’ve already signed our petition to the Census Bureau – thank you! Now will you go one step further and ask your friends and family to sign and support our efforts to queer the census?
The census is not just a numbers game. The director of the U.S. Census Bureau, Robert Groves, said it himself: "Just like we can’t survive without roads and bridges, the country doesn’t function well without an updated Census to distribute funds to areas that most need them and to support community decisions about their own future."
But how can the survey accurately reflect and support the LGBT community when there isn’t a single question on it that asks if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender? This is our chance to make sure LGBT people are no longer rendered invisible in the story of our nation.
Please ask your friends and family to join us in telling the Census Bureau that LGBT people must be counted.
Every census form we fill out makes a statement about our community’s needs. The data is used by researchers, advocates and policy makers to develop social service programs and make critical policy decisions that impact our health care, our economic stability — even our safety. The numbers literally translate into our community’s voice.
That’s why we’re counting on you to spread the word to your loved ones and ask them to sign the petition now in support of a census that counts everyone.
Again, thank you so much for taking action with us on this important issue. With your help, and with the voices of our friends, families and communities, I know we can make the Census Bureau listen.
Sincerely,
Rea Carey, Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force