The 2010 U.S. Census does not include any LGBT-specific questions, but the government will release figures pertaining to legally married same-sex couples. Still, what about those couples who have been together for decades (or months) who aren't legally married? What about single people?
"Some people were like, 'I'm not married!" said National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute director Jaime Grant. "They told us, 'I'm an LGBT individual, and I'm sick of being invisible, and I'm sick of having my needs and my life invisible.' So we basically thought, what's the best way to capitalize on that sense of outrage from the community, which is completely appropriate, to help us get a better count, and help position us as a community to get more acknowledgment on a federal level. Queer the Census is that campaign."
The Task Force, along with Credo Mobile's activism arm, has launched the campaign to raise a few eyebrows as thousands of census forms start rolling into Washington later this year. The Queer the Census effort involves a bright pink sticker used to seal the envelope in which your Census form will be sent. "Attn: U.S. Census Bureau," it reads, "it's time to count everyone!" Participants can then check whether they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or a straight ally on the sticker.
The bright pink stickers riding on the backs of envelopes into the federal government's counters would remind leaders that "they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing," Grant said.
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