Since the early 1900s, the United States Government has taken a census every ten years in an effort to document the U.S population. As our country and our citizens become more complex, so does the census. Now, the census consists of a series of questions regarding age, race, and living arrangements. Another part of the census is the American Community Survey (ACS), a questionnaire sent to hundreds of thousands of households on a monthly basis regarding everything from agricultural sales to telephone services. If the census is used to help learn more about and count the individual citizens in our country, then wouldn't it make sense to include all types of questions in the census, to get more accurate results?

The Census Bureau is required, by law, to submit the proposed questions for the ACS and the national census at least three years before each census, and last week that list was released. Sexual orientation and gender identity were listed in the appendix of the document but were quickly removed from the list. However, the Bureau was not able to take it down in time before people saw it. The LGBTQ community has reacted quickly, saying that President Trump is going back on his campaign promises to protect them and are worried this decision will allow the government to pull funding for the LGBTQ community. In my personal opinion, gay people don't deserve to be on this poll. That's right, they don't.

However, questions about kitchen utilities, telephone services, or home heating fueling definitely belong on this survey and census. So important in fact, that they overshadow the citizens of this country. Questions about kitchen utilities, telephone services, and home heating fueling are used to determine the quality of homes, but what about the American citizens? Trump's administration claims to want to make America great again, but how is ignoring an entire portion of the American population going to achieve that?

There are countries across the world, including Nigeria, Saudia Arabia, Sudan, and more, where homosexuality is punishable by death. America was founded on the idea of acceptance and freedom of all people, and how does acting as if a portion of our society doesn't exist live up to that? Not including questions about sexual orientation and gender identity on the census would allow for the government to take funding away from LGBTQ organizations and send it elsewhere. Not including these questions denies LGBTQ people the same freedom, the same opportunities, and the same equality that is given to other people. And if America ever wants to become 'great again,' we need to start at home, with our own people.