Trump continues his attack on LGBTQ Americans by erasing them in the Census

Nothing says pro-LGBTQ like having your existence erased by the government. That's exactly what Donald Trump's Census Bureau has opted to do in the next decennial Census in 2020. When the bureau originally unveiled its "Planned Subjects" for the survey, they included "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" as official categories, but that likely remnant of the Obama administration was quickly excised, writes Chris Johnson.

The U.S. Census issued a notice shortly afterward indicating the report was corrected because the initial appendix “inadvertently” included LGBT categories.

“The Subjects Planned for the 2020 Census and American Community Survey report released today inadvertently listed sexual orientation and gender identity as a proposed topic in the appendix,” the statement says. “The report has been corrected.”

The National LGBTQ Task Force has downloaded and published an unredacted copy of the report and posted on its website an image of the initial report and the redacted one that followed.

Since 1990, some same-sex households have been tallied in the Census, but only if they were "unmarried partners" (married same-sex households were altered to reflect an opposite-sex relationship). The 2010 Census included the first estimates of “married” same-sex couples. The year 2020 would have been the first year the U.S. Census included a count of LGBTQ individuals. Census data is ultimately used by lawmakers and the government to inform how existing laws are enforced and how new policies are developed and money is allocated to meet the demographic needs of U.S. citizens.

Not being a part of the Census means that, once again, LGBTQ Americans will be contributing to the tax base of a government that systematically overlooks them. Thanks, Trump.