Census data exclude vulnerable Americans

The Census Bureau's "American Community Survey" (ACS) excludes a lot of vulnerable people. As a transgender non-binary person, I have encountered arbitrary administrative limitations that have prevented my participation in this mandatory and important data-gathering exercise. This isn't the first time I've run into barriers to my inclusion in the census — in 2020, I called in multipled times, sent emails, and mailed in paper forms, and consistently heard (from call center workers, managers, and regional managers alike) the claim that they couldn't accept my accurate response to their question about my sex or gender. They told me I had to select a binary response to the sex or gender question. When I said that would be inaccurate, they asked if I was refusing to answer the question. “No, I’m not refusing,” I would say, “I’m attempting to accurately respond to the question. I am not male or female, I am non-binary.” Invariably, they would reply that the system they were using to record responses did not allow for that possibility. As a result, I believe my response was left out of the census, and I believe it will be left out again this year for the ACS. I’m certain I’m not alone. A significant number of Americans exist outside the male-female binary, and the census data exclude us. (And we’re not the only ones; I’m aware of related concerns about the exclusion of many other vulnerable groups.) When the Congress directed the Census Bureau to collect this data in accordance with the Constitution, I’m sure they did not envision excluding us — not the non-binary people, not the indigenous people, not the disabled people, nor any of the many other vulnerable populations whose access to services depends on accurate census data. The census data are flawed, they exclude vulnerable members of our community, and they are not suited for the many purposes for which they are intended.