U.S. Census Bureau proposes adding gender, sexuality questions for those ages 15 and up

The U.S. Census Bureau is under fire for embracing progressive ideology around gender and sexuality and pushing for taxpayer dollars to fund it.

U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and JD Vance, R-Ohio, sent a letter to the U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Santos calling on him to rescind its plan to incorporate a gender identity and sexuality questions to the American Community Survey, which goes to more than 3.5 million Americans each year.

The Census Bureau proposed change in the federal register says the survey would ask about both someone’s sex “assigned at birth” as well as asking for someone’s “current gender.” That question would give the options of “Male, Female, Transgender, Nonbinary,” and “This person uses a different term” with an option to fill in the blank.

The question would only go to respondents that are at least 15 years old.

In its fiscal year 2023 budget request to Congress, the Census Bureau requested $10 million to study how best to word a question for the survey asking Americans about their gender identity.

“One such emerging need of our Nation is to improve the measurement of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) population,” the budget request said. “Improving how we collect data about sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations is a critical step in producing accurate data.”

The Senators argue that this could hurt the agency’s credibility in the eyes of the American people.

“Biology determines gender, not subjective belief, and the bureau should not jeopardize the legitimacy of crucial statistical information by endorsing unscientific and untrue concepts like gender identity,” the letter said. “For generations, the American people have looked to the U.S. Census as an unbiased, authoritative source describing the objective reality of life in America. It is not worth sacrificing this trust to advance controversial social ideas through government surveys.”

The Bureau’s budget request also suggests changes could be coming to questions about race. The federal group said in its budget request it wants to innovate “for new questions relating to sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersexuality and/or potential modifications to the race and ethnicity questions.”

Mike Gonzalez, an expert at the Heritage Foundation, blasted the federal government’s move on this issue, saying it is pushing a political narrative.

“The Census Bureau has been completely co-opted into the grievance-mongering industry, providing it with the data the industry needs to push the ‘oppressor/oppressed’ narrative,” Gonzalez told The Center Square. “What’s more, this information relates to synthetic categories that the Census took a lead in creating in the first place! Among these are faux ethnic groups like Hispanics or Asian-Americans, created in 1977. The Census now wants to add categories based on gender identity, in a question that will be asked of children as young as 15.

“It’s time for the administrative state to stop contributing to the division of our country into identity groups,” Gonzalez added.

The Census Bureau did not respond to a request for comment.