WASHINGTON—This week, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva submitted testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee calling for the passage of the LGBTQ Data Inclusion Act. The Committee held a hearing examining the impacts of the Trump Administration’s ‘religious liberty’ agenda on LGBTQ rights. In June 2019, Rep. Grijalva introduced the LGBTQ Data Inclusion Act which calls for the inclusion of voluntary questions concerning gender identity and sexual orientation in all federal surveys. This ensures that the LGBTQ community is adequately counted and lawmakers have accurate data to address longstanding issues facing LGBTQ populations. The testimony read in part:

“The LGBTQ Data Inclusion Act is simple and tackles an often overlooked yet critical component of policymaking: data. The LGBTQ community faces adversity in employment, medical care and social services. To begin to address these disparities, federal agencies must gather robust data that will help us understand the extent of the disparities and determine the appropriate policy action. While some federal data on the LGBTQ community is currently collected, there is no centralized requirement in law ensuring that federal data collection on the LGBTQ community be a priority.

“Estimates are no longer good enough. We must ensure that everyone is visible and accounted for—especially in critical federal surveys like the Census. This is the only way we can properly represent our whole constituency.”

Read Rep. Grijalva’s full testimony here.

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