Census Bureau to Test New Questions on Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

By: Bill Osterndorf

The U.S. Census Bureau intends to test new questions that will be used for survey respondents to provide information on their sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). A formal request to test these questions was published in the Federal Register on April 29, 2024.  If approved by the Office of Management and Budget, these test questions will be incorporated into the American Community Survey. 

Demographic Data Collection in the American Community Survey 

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) is sent to 3.5 million addresses in the United States each year. It includes an extensive set of questions regarding household demographics, income, housing, education, and employment. Responses to the ACS are used for many purposes, including the creation of statistical tables used in availability analyses in affirmative action plans. 

The current version of the ACS asks one question about the sex of a respondent.  The respondent is required to choose either “male” or “female” in response to this question. Various federal agencies have asked the Census Bureau to include additional questions about the sexual orientation and gender identity of respondents. Data from these SOGI test questions would be used by agencies in the enforcement of laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. 

Proposed SOGI Questions 

Supporting statements regarding the proposed SOGI questions indicate that the Census Bureau intends to send the SOGI questions to 480,000 households during 2024 as part of the ACS survey these households receive. The proposed version of the ACS survey that will incorporate these questions can be found at reginfo.gov. 

Each respondent to the proposed ACS survey could be asked two questions about sex and gender. 

• The first question will ask “What sex was Person [x] assigned at birth?”  The only responses allowed for this question are “Male” and “Female.” 

• The second question will ask “What is Person [x]’s current gender?”  Respondents are allowed to choose from one or more of the following: “Male,” “Female,” “Transgender,” or “Nonbinary.”  Respondents are also allowed to choose a box that says, “This person uses a different term” and then provide that term. 

Later in the ACS survey, each respondent could be asked “Which of the following best represents how this person thinks of themselves?” Respondents are asked to make one choice from among the following: “Gay or lesbian,” “Straight, that is not gay or lesbian,” “Bisexual,” and “This person uses a different term.”  If a respondent chooses this last option, the respondent is asked to provide the term. 

Use of SOGI Data by Federal Agencies 

If the proposed SOGI questions are approved by OMB, the Census Bureau will send out the ACS surveys with these questions and then evaluate the results. The Bureau’s supporting statements indicate that data collection using these test ACS surveys will end in late 2024 or early 2025. The Bureau will then “publish at least one report discussing the results of the test roughly 18 months later.”  There is no formal timeline for incorporating the SOGI questions into all ACS surveys. 

The current request to OMB follows the September 2023 publication of a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments on potential SOGI questions.  The Census Bureau received 91 comments that provided various insights that the Census Bureau used in developing its SOGI questions. The Bureau’s response to these comments is included in its supporting statements for the April 2024 OMB request. 

Part of the interest in collecting SOGI data reflects the growing number of individuals in the United States who self-identify as something other than male or female. Agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) have struggled to determine what to do when applicants and employees self-identify their sex as something other than male or female.  For example, EEOC’s EEO-1 survey requires employers to provide information on the race, ethnicity, and sex of employees. Employers with employees who self-identify as nonbinary may include this information in the comments section of the report. However, there is no effective way to report data on nonbinary employees in the current EEO-1 survey. Guidance from OMB and data from ACS surveys would be helpful to EEOC, OFCCP, and other federal agencies in making determinations regarding persons who self-identify as something other than male or female. 

DCI will continue to monitor developments.