Taking Measure.

[Rant]
One of my pet peeves is when I see a panel discussion on either trans or LGBQ people and what I see are all young people on the panel. While it is important to have young people speak up, if the panel is on LGBTQ+ issues you cannot just have either gays, or lesbians, or trans, or Bi, or queer on the panel you need them all! You also need a broad range of ages, you can’t have all twenty something on the panel and you also can’t have just seniors on the panel.

You need a wide range of people on the panel.

Around the turn of the century I went to a presentation by a PhD candidate at the University of Hartford on LGBTQ+ in the Media… whoa this should be good! There were about five of us there and in presentation he talked about gays and lesbians on TV. Wait a minute where’s the trans in the media? So we asked him and his answer floored us. He said that there were no shows on TV about trans people! What!

We said what about The Education of Max Bickford? Or All in the Family? And we name a number of other shows. He was very quite after that. I said if I was his doctoral advisor I would give him an “F.” (I noticed that when he gave the presentation again he titled it Lesbians and Gays in the Media.)

***

I was on a committee where we were trying to make research studies more inclusive to minorities. And boy did I meet a bunch of snobs… “It is my study and leave you hands off it!” All we were trying to do is increase their demographics by recruiting a boarder base and by asking questions about sexual orientation and gender identity. That committee was a flop, the heart was in the right place but we ran in huge silos.

***

When we were trying to pass the gender inclusive none discrimination bill, the number one question the legislators asked was about demographics… how many trans people are in Connecticut? How many are homeless? How many trans people were refused healthcare? All we could do was shrug our shoulders. The state legislature gave us funds for a needs assessment to find out back in 2020.

***

And now Department of Public Health is looking for feedback on the proposed protocols for collecting SOGI demographic data on us. It is easy for gays and lesbians but for us it is a nightmare.

What does the word “transgender” mean to you? I bet if you ask a hundred trans people you will get a hundred different answers. For some it means only those who have transitioned, for other it means only is you had surgery, and for others it means anyone who crosses the gender norms.

Meanwhile, a large government agency wants a “black and white” answer and I don’t know what the answer is… do my homework assignment is to read this for our meeting next month for the legislative LGBTQ+ Justice & Opportunity Network, the booklet is Measuring Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation.

Some people feel surveys are a waste of time and money… just give us the money and we will spend it where needed. However the legislators want to know where the funding is needed and they want data! They like reading reports, they like seeing numbers, they want to know where the funding is most needed.

So to do that they need information and a standard format, hence the booklet from the Committee on National Statistics, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

They suggest:

     RECOMMENDATION 4: The panel recommends that the National Institutes of Health use the following pair of questions assessing sex assigned at birth and gender identity:

    Q1: What sex were you assigned at birth, on your original birth certificate?

        Female
        Male
    (Don’t know)
    (Prefer not to answer)
    
Q2: What is your current gender? [Mark only one]
        
        Female
        Male
        Transgender
        [If respondent is AIAN:] Two-Spirit
        I use a different term: [free text]
    (Don’t know)
    (Prefer not to answer)

How would you ask these questions to determine SO/GI?

[/Rant]