Anyone else paranoid about the 2010 C.? - Page 2

[atlantafemme]

We filled ours out and it did NOT ask for SS#s.

[indigoscot]

ours arrived yesterday. no ssn # info is asked for. i am waiting to send it in until my "queer the census" sticker arrives. we are not "married" but i feel the need to put down married couple because that's how we see ourselves - we did have a commitment ceremony in 2006.

g

[Monarchgrrl]

Thanks for that sticker link. I've ordered one. DW and I were trying to decide between putting married/wife or unmarried partners since it's for the feds. We've decided on married/wife. They can sort out the issue if there is one.

[AFWife]

Sorry, I just jumped in from new posts without checking which section this was in...sorry for the crash *embarrassed*

[lexbeach]

I marked us as married. I also put ds#4 as my biological son even though dw gave birth to him. Seemed to fit better than "adopted" (especially since I have yet to adopt him), seeing as my name is on his original birth certificate, etc.

I'm really hoping that they'll gather some statistics about queer families from this. Would be thrilled if there was a box to check that said, "queer?"

Not paranoid at all.

Lex

[lyn_ftst]

I want to echo what was said above that the census wants to count gay and lesbian couples as married if they consider themselves married, whether or not the marriage is legal. I have a friend who is doing GLBT outreach for the census and she is emphatic on this point, even though it contradicts some of the info put out by GLBT organizations.

Lex -- We also marked both kids as "biological." But before doing so I checked with my friend, and we have managed to confuse the census mightily. They really couldn't agree on the proper category for the kid of a non-bio-mom as person 1 in a two-mom family in which one mom gave birth. The description of biological child for the workers who go door to door is "Child of person 1 by birth." I was our person 1, and our daughter became my daughter as soon as she was born so that felt OK to me. I also didn't feel right listing our children as having different relationships to me, one bio and one adopted. Apparently my question has been forwarded to some supervisor somewhere and I may get an official answer, but I'm guessing it could take a while.

I'm not worried about security on the census at all. I want our family to count. Hopefully in 2020 they'll do a better job of counting our kids.

[AmandaMom]

Thanks, pleasantlyfurious, for the link to the stickers. We sent for ours today!

lyn_ftst - Please let me know if you ever hear back about categorizing your children on the census. DP and I talked about that last night. I will be the one to carry/birth our child, but she still wouldn't feel comfortable putting "adopted". I don't blame her! If we were parents already, we would have done the same as you and lex.

DP and I also talked about how some folks are paranoid about the census asking so many questions. You all should know, DP is the most paranoid person I know! She doesn't put her SSN on the forms at the doctor, she makes up a birth date on almost every other form, and she threw a fit when she went to get a library card and they wanted to take her picture to have it on file. That's just the tip of the iceberg, people. She, however, is not paranoid about the questions on the census. She actually made a good point: This is going to the federal government. They are not asking for anything they don't already know. It's just a thought... Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and feelings on the issue, and whatever you decide, I'm sure it's the right thing for your family.

[spedteacher30]

Originally Posted by lyn_ftst

But before doing so I checked with my friend, and we have managed to confuse the census mightily.

hi lyn!!! good to see you here too! We have the added issue of wanting the non-bio mom in a state without adoption to be person 1 because of her race (it is better to put the racial minority member of the household as person 1 for statistics about homeownership/heads of household and race). We're also now planning to list our son as "biological son" even though technically in the eyes of the government, he is "other non-relative" to person 1.

But, no, we're not paranoid about the census--just frustrated trying to figure out the best way to fill it out.

[seraf]

We filled ours out a week or so ago.I am happy to be counted. I looked up the cencus data of my town before I moved here and it was dismal. I'm happy to be counted. I wished I had read the whole thing before I started. I put my Mom down as #1, because the building is in her name, but everyone in the house has some relation to me, so the form would have been smoother had I been #1. As it was I marked my partner as unmarried partner and wrote in "to #2" and also son-in-law/daughter-in-law but I scratched out "son-in-law" and "in-law". Didn't know what else to put.

I put the kids as here full time, because I they are registered in this school district.

And I was highly amused that 5 out of 6 of us are female and 5 our of 6 have different last names.

Seraf

[katharinerose]

Nope, totally not paranoid about the census. The data from the census is the only way we can ensure a properly proportioned representative government, determines federal funding amounts for schools and other important public services, and provides all sorts of aggregate data that is extremely useful. Plus, in 80 or 100 years when the 2010 census details are released, they become amazing genealogical resources.

We're living with my parents at the moment, so I am listed as Daughter, and DW is listed as Daughter-in-law. The issue of counting children is one I don't have, but can see to be a pain, even in non-queer household with more than one person's biological children.

[kjm]

Originally Posted by pleasantlyfurious

For those of us that are into being counted loud and proud you can check out Queer the Census:

http://www.queerthecensus.org/site/c...the_Census.htm

They'll send you a free sticker you can use to seal your census asking the government to count LGBT people.

ok question--if we are queering the census where is the "Queer" option???? I don't identify with any of those boxes either!!! We have to keep fighting for the Q y'all!!!

[jjnoho]

no more stickers too bad.

[EviesMom]

Originally Posted by katharinerose

The issue of counting children is one I don't have, but can see to be a pain, even in non-queer household with more than one person's biological children.

That hadn't even occured to me but you're right... what would they do with a blended stepfamily of straight people? Man has 2 kids, gets remarried, has custody. Woman has 2 kids, gets remarried, has custody, neither adopts the other's kids. Isn't that really really common? Would one of the adults' kids end up as "unrelated to person 1" on the census? That's just weird.

[lyn_ftst]

Originally Posted by EviesMom

That hadn't even occured to me but you're right... what would they do with a blended stepfamily of straight people? Man has 2 kids, gets remarried, has custody. Woman has 2 kids, gets remarried, has custody, neither adopts the other's kids. Isn't that really really common? Would one of the adults' kids end up as "unrelated to person 1" on the census? That's just weird.

"Step son or daughter" is an option and totally covers this situation. The issue for queer families is that if you are, for example, a non-bio-mom in a two-mom family where the other mom gave birth, parenting a kid you've been with since birth, choosing "step child" really doesn't fit.