Commentary: Census doesn't fairly count transgender persons
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/03/26/91136/census-doesnt-fairly-count-transgender.htmlKalil Cohen
3/26/10
While I support the inclusion of communities of color in census data collection, I am dismayed to see that similar efforts are not being made to include gender-variant communities, meaning people who are not only "male" or "female." The 2010 census form collects information on age, sex, race, ethnicity and living arrangements. In 2000, the census form was finally altered to allow participants to identify with all their racial and ethnic groups rather than being forced to choose only one. This gave the government much more complex and accurate data regarding U.S. residents.
Similarly, there needs to be a way to self identify one's sex beyond "male" or "female" on the census forms.
Sex, like race, is a complex category.
A person's sex includes hormones, chromosomes, and physical features, which may not neatly align as either male or female. As we saw last fall with world-class runner Caster Semenya, athletic boards have difficulty sometimes classifying people as male or female.
