RESULTS MAY VARY

No one really knows exactly how many LGBTQ people exist at a given time. The sole method for rapid data collection about a population is surveys, which can have pitfalls related to participants opting out of responding, unstable estimates due to inconsistent sampling and so on.

Twenty-twenty marked the first time in US history that the Census Bureau established questions specific to sexual orientation and gender identity in their Household Pulse Survey. According to the results, approximately 8% of respondents identified themselves as LGBTQ. They were categorized as LGBTQ if they reported a sex at birth that does not align with their current gender identity; a sexual orientation of gay, lesbian, or bisexual; or that they currently identify as transgender.

Compare this result to other surveys conducted the same year from organizations and data collection agencies that are striving to fill the knowledge gap.

Gallup reported 5.6% to the question “Which of the following do you consider yourself to be? You can select as many as apply: Straight or heterosexual; Lesbian; Gay; Bisexual; Transgender”. Respondents who volunteered another identity (i.e., queer, pansexual, etc.) were recorded and included in the LGBTQ estimate.

The Williams Institute, based at the UCLA School of Law, reported 4.5% to the question “Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender?” Respondents who answered ‘Yes’ were classified as LGBTQ, and those who answered ‘No’ were classified as non-LGBT. The remaining who either refused to answer or answered ‘I don’t know’ were excluded from the count.

The Census itself does not ask about identifiers of the LGBTQ population beyond the living arrangements of same-gender couples. This creates a false narrative that LGBTQ people have a singular experience, which means not all persons in the community are represented by the federal government and are not considered for funding for programs in education, health care, housing or employment that would improve their livelihoods.

THE FALLOUT AND THE FUTURE

The LGBTQ community is as diverse in race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, marital/relationship status, parental/familial status, religion, education and age as their heterosexual, cisgender counterparts. To treat their experiences as a monolith continues to perpetuate the idea that they are a group to be “othered” and not properly counted.

The immediate consequence to this practice is that societies — from citizens to lawmakers — are not well-informed about the diverse experiences of the LGBTQ community. If citizens within the community are considered a much smaller population than they are, there is less motivation for governments to “buy into” supporting them.

At best, the data remains incomplete. And when analytics are introduced, this yields heavy bias in the results and conclusions drawn from models. Remember the bane of every data scientist’s existence: GIGO (“Garbage In, Garbage Out”).

Until more institutions and organizations include opportunities for LGBTQ people to fully identify themselves, empirically driven, sustainable change in culture and laws will remain a pipe dream. In the meantime, acknowledge the bias that will be inevitable with the limited data that is available, and consider the opportunities to be had for greater equity and inclusivity when the gap can be closed.