LGBT+ Inclusivity in Surveys and Questionnaires

[Shana A]

A.J. Walkley
Author, 'Queer Greer' and 'Choice'

LGBT+ Inclusivity in Surveys and Questionnaires
Posted: 02/25/2013 4:16 pm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aj-walkley/lgbt-inclusivity-surveys-questionnaires_b_2696005.html

When was the last time you took a survey or filled out a form where you had to specify your sex, gender or sexuality? Do you recall how many options were given for each of these three questions? As of late, I've become more vigilant whenever a questionnaire comes over my email or across my desk. Despite progress being made on multiple issues involving the LGBT+ community, it continues to surprise me that in something as straightforward (no pun intended) as a survey, we still have a long way to go.

I recently took part in a survey from SparkPeople.com in which I was asked my gender and only given two options, "male" or "female," which really frustrated me. I then reached out to fellow activists to see what their experiences in this matter have been like. I was overwhelmed by stories of the lack of inclusion on forms they've been given to fill out from various institutions, including LGBT+ groups themselves.

[Vicky]

Its an element of humorous irony to me that I am reading a book about "How To Lie With Statistics" at the minute!!  Shot in the rear by our own!!