Summary
Forms are the front door to government services—for everything from getting a job to a COVID-19 vaccine—yet their current design creates systemic barriers for LGBTQ+ people. Forms shape how our government understands, prioritizes, and addresses the needs of its people, but for LGBTQ+ communities, many government forms include demographic questions that are unnecessarily invasive, inadequate, and unclear in their purpose. This deepens mistrust, creates barriers to critical benefits, and prevents collection of data needed to provide effective, equitable services. In this talk, U.S. Digital Service team members will share lessons learned from direct engagement with an intersectional group of LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations and researchers and statisticians across government and standards organizations as well as an examination of underlying policies and tech systems. We’ll provide a framework for navigating sexual orientation and gender identity, as a first step toward designing equitable forms for all.
Key Insights
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Inclusion of SOJI data is essential for effective government service delivery.
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LGBTQ+ representation in federal surveys has lagged behind societal changes.
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Collecting SOJI data can empower better resource allocation and service delivery to marginalized communities.
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User-centered design is crucial for understanding diverse community needs.
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The zip code of service delivery should not dictate the visibility of demographics in federal forms.
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Transparency in data collection fosters trust with the LGBTQ+ community.
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Challenges exist in updating federal data standards that have been stagnant since 1997.
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Interagency collaboration is necessary to implement effective SOJI data collection practices.
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Technological considerations, like data interoperability, affect data analysis and policy-making.
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Iterative testing and community feedback are vital for developing inclusive research methodologies.
Notable Quotes
"If you don't collect data on somebody, they become invisible and nobody should be invisible."
"We want our government to serve all people and respect the privacy of those we serve."
"There's a growing population identifying as LGBTQ+ and we need to reflect that in our data."
"The term 'transsexual' used to be prevalent but has since fallen out of favor; language evolves."
"Data collection must be justifiable; it cannot be for the sake of collection alone."
"Government's change moves slowly, but we can pilot and test for quicker improvements."
"We are fostering trust within the LGBTQ+ community, acknowledging their reasons for distrust."
"We aim for a unified government experience; users don’t care about agency silos."
"The use of gender should not be conflated with sex; they serve different purposes."
"Compensation for participation in research is crucial to respect people's time and experience."
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