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This bill — known as the Census Equality Act — would aim to improve federal data collection by requiring the collection of information on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in the decennial census and the American Community Survey (ACS).

The bill would require the Secretary of Commerce to expand the Census Bureau’s data collection efforts to include the collection of data concerning sexual orientation and gender identity as part of the Decennial Census and ACS. The Bureau would be required to begin researching, identifying, and start implementing a plan to include SOGI questions no later than one year after this bill’s enactment. The decennial census must then include SOGI questions no later than 2030; and the ACS must include SOGI questions no later than 2020.

The Census Bureau would be required to include information on sexual orientation and gender identity alongside any decennial census or ACS report relying on gender or household data collected after the SOGI questions’ inclusion.

Robust confidentiality and privacy protections for all SOGI information would be maintained, as is required of all census data. Currently, federal law prohibits the Census Bureau from releasing any census information that would identify individuals until 72 years after it is collected — but the agency can release anonymized data about specific demographic groups at levels as detailed as the neighborhood level.

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Should the Census Ask About Sexual Orientation?