Queer The Census, and Make It Stick!

We already told you to be sure that LGBT families get counted in the 2010 census. Now we're asking you to tell the census to count us explcitly and not just indirectly. And you can get a free sticker to help you do this, too!

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force are working to tell the U.S. Census Bureau: We're here. We're queer. And we want you to ask us about it. Go to their online petition link here.

You can also get a free sticker to put on the back of your 2010 census envelope - it's available from CREDO, the progressive communication company.

The census tries to get an accurate count of everyone in the country, but there's no question in the survey that asks if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. This means that LGBT people are basically invisible in the national survey that is supposed to reflect the diversity of America's population.

The data collected impacts issues critical to every American, like health care, economic stability, and even safety. When gay folks aren't counted, then we also don't count when it comes to services and resources.

It's important that we participate and have our families counted, but it's also important that we get them to acknowledge us for who we are. Currently the census basically keeps the LGBT community invisible, making it that much easier to marginalize us. We need them to let us be out, visible, and a full part of our country.