Inclusivity Raises Its Hand, Putting the “Us” in “Census”

The US Transgender Survey, according to director Josie Caballero calls “a community-led survey by trans people, for trans people,” is the largest census intended expressly with the goal of collecting data about the understudied lives of transgender and nonbinary citizens. The deadline for completion is November 21.

As a powerful tool for researchers, policymakers, and advocates seeking to understand the needs of the estimated 1.6 million people 13 and above living in the U.S., the survey serves as a vital benchmark for today and the coming five to 10 years when it will be conducted again, in order to measure any varying differences in answers that will either indicate an overall improvement or retrograde. The survey asks different respondents differently tailored questions based off of prior responses to track how someone’s beliefs have changed over the years.

According to the USTS’s website, the survey is an overhauled version of the ground-breaking original conducted in 08-09 and  2015. Now it matches the structure of more traditional federal surveys so as to compare the USTS sample to the U.S. population as a whole for a detailed picture of what marginalized folks across the trans spectrum experience day-to-day, such as their responses regarding employment, healthcare, and housing situations.

In addition to being a more robust questionnaire, this year’s rendition features the first-of-its-kind intense focus on what the USTS deems “priority groups”—groups including people of color, older adults, rural Americans, immigrants and people living with HIV/AIDS. Filling the gaps in data about these groups and the rest of the spectrum are invaluable for hearing about the experiences not asked about in the US Census.

Given the breadth of this year’s potential participation amidst increasing media coverage of transgender and nonbinary rights, it is forecasted that the echoes will finally be heard from the historically unheard for generations to come.