Los Angeles–In response to the introduction of the 2020 American Census Investment Act (H.R. 4013) today in Congress by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Equality California National Policy Director Valerie Ploumpis issued the following statement:
“Full and adequate funding for the 2020 Census is critical for the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ people and other communities that are underserved and overlooked, including youth and seniors, people of color, transgender people and the undocumented. When people are not counted, they literally do not count and do not receive the services they need.
The Trump Administration already has announced that it plans to force LGBTQ people back into a collective closet by cancelling plans to include questions about sexual orientation and gender identity in the 2020 census. Congress has failed to adequately fund the 2020 Census project over the last few years, and the Trump Administration is proposing a Census Bureau budget of just over $1.5 billion dollars. That falls far short of a traditional spike in census spending in the eighth year of the planning cycle, will exacerbate the omission of LGBTQ and other vulnerable Americans from the 2020 Census. We urge every member of the California congressional delegation to sign on to sponsor the 2020 American Census Investment Act and urge Congress to restore funding to a count on which so many vital services depend.”
Equality California has also sent a letter urging Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to restore questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to the 2020 Census.