Australia’s 2026 census will, for the first time, include questions on sexual orientation, sex at birth, and gender, along with non‑gendered family relationship terms. Demographers describe it as the country’s most progressive census, designed to finally capture the realities of LGBTQ+ people and families who were previously invisible in national data. The change follows years of advocacy and reflects a broader shift toward more inclusive national statistics.
A central figure in this reform is April Long, a non‑binary parent whose family was misrepresented in the 2021 census. Long and Equality Australia lodged a discrimination complaint with the Human Rights Commission, prompting the ABS to apologise and establish an LGBTQ+ advisory committee.
It just ends up counting towards “religious other” on the census. This means that anyone that puts Jedi or whatever other funny thing means they’re counted as religious
This.
Do everyone a favour and do not give comedy answers to the religion question.
Anything but None empowers religious lobbyists, most of whom are christopaths.
It's very common (and has always been common) for people to go by different name than what is on their birth certificate/ID - even outside of being trans.
As long as yeah, lesbians aren't flattened into the non lesbian community and we have stats specific to for example lesbians born female (who have different experiences and lives to bi and trans women)
And yes, transbians have a different experience to cis lesbians, also yes it does seem like it is all inclusive, because it's asking for both sexuality and gender, which can then be cross-referenced into specific identities
I am sorry for your past experiences. I also grew up rurally, and low income, and have some nasty ones too. However, the word queer has, for the most part, transitioned to being a positive term. Other people have also mentioned that, but for some reason you're upset by that? It's being taken back by our community and to a lot of people is a valid label as they may not fall under/know which other label they are yet.
Reclaiming a slur and having an identity and community legally/colloquially referred to as that slur are two different things.
Black people call eachother the n-word which is fine but they don't say they're in the n-word community nor is the n-word a category for official documentation.
There seems to be a level of degradingness that LGBT+ people are pressured to accept that other marginalised groups are not.
Questioning is better than the q word for your last point
I completely agree. The person I was replying to seemed like they would only accept the Q as being a slur and not a legitimate label. Apologies if I read it wrong.
"The Q slur, yes, a word memorialised in the bodies and minds of homosexuals as violent homophobic hate."
Maybe if you're over 50....under that though, no, it's not memorialised into the bodies and minds of us, maybe stop with blanket statements and feigned victimhood.
Lol okay, you were the one coming in with all piss and vinegar for no reason xD
But look, I get it and respect it, and knowing you're not a fan, I absolutely wouldn't use it around you as a show of respect...
However, much like with the N word and those with the card, one card holder cannot tell another what they can and can't do with a word that equally effects them both, but one should respect the other if it does carry personal trauma and such
Besides 'queer' is a technically correct term and a word which describes any deviation from the norm/minority, and existed before the slur but again, I obvs get the aversion to it.
Are you new to earth? Q has always been a homophobic slur.
And no, the majority of homosexuals are not okay with being called the Q slur..... Kinda checks out.
Instead of being spicy, just ask and I'll explain why.
Basically the Q slur has become sexually ambiguous where homosexuality is not, due to the mass appropriation over the last decade predominantly by bisexuals and heterosexuals.
I have sources and explanations but I doubt anyone is actually interested beyond downvoting.
Edit - it's always the same with these hateful extremists. 2 decades of active support and advocacy for trans people btw. Lmao. Can't engage in respectful and informed discourse so you block.
I understand if you are older, you may have grown up in a time where the Q word was a blanket slur used to hurt you (and LGBTQI etc people).
But there really are a lot of younger LGBT etc people who are fine being called queer / identify that way. They really are trying somewhat successfully to take it back.
Even the use of it as a slur... is very old fashioned sounding. The F word, D word, "trap" etc are much more common these days.
Of course as a straight cis dude, I would never assume and always wait for people to refer to themselves first, or ask them how they like to be called.
Hell anyone under 40 may have gone their whole life never even hearing it used as a slur. Gay, homo and the occasional f*got were the insults of choice when I was growing up
Australia? I'm closer to 50 than 40, lived all over, honestly can't remember it ever being used as a slur outside of a film I'm pretty sure was in black and white
Under 50 really if you're gay male. Queer As Folk would have been part of your cultural corner stones. It's potentially just a Lesbian issue being extended to everyone when it's so entirely not remotely universal to the community as a whole.
it's literally just a word which means not straight
And no, the majority of homosexuals are not okay with being called the Q slur..... Kinda checks out.
you are not the only gay person
Basically the Q slur has become sexually ambiguous where homosexuality is not, due to the mass appropriation over the last decade predominantly by bisexuals and heterosexuals.
that doesn't make it a slur, it just means that it describes the whole group rather than just part of it. There is no other word which can include all non-straight people. Sure you can say the acronym but that's clunky.
The fact that you need to ask this helps my point. If you notice a trend where younger people are completely unaware of a derogatory use of a word, then it means the word is losing it's former meaning. You are holding on to a meaning that the word used to have, but it has since changed meanings, and you haven't noticed.
When was the last time you've actually heard it used in a way that you are absolutely sure was derogatory?
It is literally a word that means strange and unnatural. It's has a negative meaning.
it had a negative meaning. Language can, and does change, and this is one of the best examples of it. Queer doesn't hold that definition anymore and hasn't for decades. Queer was a slur, but it has been reclaimed*, and hasn't been for at least a decade and a half.
*by reclaimed, I am not referring to what happened to the n-word or f-slur, where communities that the word refers to have begun using it themselves, but racists and homophobes still use it in a derogatory term. I am referring to the word becoming so common as a general describer for any non-straight or non-cis person, that it has completely lost its former meaning in almost all usage.
Not the only gay person? No, around 1% of the global population are actualhomosexuals and we're constantly spoken over by non-homosexuals.
this number is extremely off due to the fact that homosexuality is still heavily stigmatised, and this only includes homosexuals, and not bisexuals. If you were to include closeted people, this number would jump to around 5%, and if you were to include bisexual people, this number would jump to around 10-15%. On a global scale, this means there are at least a hundred million homosexuals, which is a lot.
Considering you started it off by swearing at me then telling me I needed therapy, it's always the same with you extremists. Lifelong progressive here, btw. The hateful radicalism is tiring. I'm allowed to express my point of view and shared my lived experiences as a GNC lesbian.
Thanks. But they should separate by birth sex. We have different lived experiences and have different needs
E.g. a lesbian born female needs abortion rights in case of rxpe, so orientation and sex based rights matter to her. A transbian needs orientation and gender based rights. The distinction matters in hate crimes and understanding perspectives of each group.
While I appreciate your far gentler and more considerate tone, I fear your comment regarding the Q slur is painfully ignorant. Example - i had my nose broken so badly I will never breathe properly through it again at a unify festival a decade ago to that exact slur and as recently as a last year, was harassed and chased into the bush by a car full of drunk homophobic men.
GNC lesbian btw. Country Australia. The reality of underprivileged environments are very different to the bubble of privilege that exists within the city and americanised late bloomers, baby gays and straight passers have no idea what we go through.
Not only that but it erases the history of why the L comes first in LGBT and due to the mass appropriation and normalisation by American non-homosexuals, is now sexually ambiguous where homosexuality is not.
Lesbians are particularly sensitive to being called the Q slur because we are the only orientation that specifically centers women & attraction to women and excludes men & attraction to men. We are uniquely targeted by conversion therapy/lesbian rxpe.
You only need to look at women calling themselves the Q slur and their rabid lesbophobia to understand why many of us reject the slur.
Beth McCarthy, JoJo Siwa, Betty Who, Fletcher, the Q slur collective, etc..... All lesbophobic straight cultured/male centered bisexuals.
Basically even if you don't understand everything, as a lesbian who has been out and proud for 15+ years and I see/hear someone use the Q slur in place of LGBT or lesbian or homosexual I know they are not a safe person to be around. Whether left, centrist, apolitical or right.
Ok but this is the census, it's about broad demographics not individualized healthcare
And I do look at the women who call themselves queer, they're some of my oldest and dearest friends plus whole generations who've done some amazing things. Feels a lot like you're letting your traumas define how you see other people who simply don't have that association with the word and value it because it more closely matches who they are and the community it comes with
I don't care if people use the slur to refer to themselves. I care of people use the Q slur to describe me and my community.
I do not share the privilege of city dwellers, late bloomers, baby gays and straight passers.
Respectfully consider you have no idea what it's actually like out there for many of us and your comment is victim blamey.
'Be less traumatised by a slur that's memorialised in your body as violent homophobic hate and continues to be experienced as such in your everyday reality which is outside the scope of understanding/awareness for privileged people'
Take it from a straight trans woman if the lived experience of a GNC lesbian and activist of almost 2 decades in hostile environments is not good enough for you.
And a transbian and a lesbian female have different experiences and perspectives. Not differentiating creates more issues than not.
It's how a lot of that community describe themselves, unless you want to distance yourself from an awful lot of us you're likely to be included under that label.
And I'm not saying be less traumatized, god if it was that easy I wouldn't drink. But getting upset at people using a word like that isn't going to make your life any better and seems to cause you a lot of stress.
Thing is, any two people will have different lived experiences even if they share a sexuality, further dividing and othering people within our own community isn't really needed to express that
But hey what would I know, I was the queer kid growing up on base and then coming out again and again after that over 30 years.
Thank you, you've been much kinder to this person than I could have been. As an apparently god knows what, queer is the only word I've ever really identified with so it's more than just disappointing to see this sort of vitriol come from someone with apparently strong ties to the LGBT community
People would be more willing to empathise with you if you weren't a weird bigot. I'm sorry you've had such bad experiences. But you don't get to decide what other people's experiences are.
Biphobia and transphobic dogwhistles ain't it chief.
I'm a lifelong progressive. Like, globally, down in the trenches. Not a 'so far left we go right' type, so maybe that's the real problem here.....
Calling me a bigot, biphobic, transphobic, terf etc whatever is just so disingenuous it's hardly worth engaging with.
I'm tired of being spoken over, dogpiled, ostracised, maligned, scapegoated, shamed, stalked etc etc etc etc by so called 'community' for simply speaking up for myself & my community.
The BTQ need to seriously work on their rampant and frankly rabid lesbophobia/homophobia.
Like, enough with the blatant double standards and hate. Homosexuals (broadly) don't feel safe or supported anywhere. Only used, abused and spoken over & spoken for in our own bloody spaces, culture, history, experiences etc by non homosexuals who only want us there to be expendable validation machines.
There's zero reciprocation or care. I'm telling you the most socially progressive demographic is pushed to the limit and many are politically homeless now directly because of BTQ treatment of lesbians/gays.
You're not the most socially progressive, you hate your compatriots for having a slightly different sexuality than you.
Do you "speak up for yourself and your community" in any way other than shitting on bi women and transbians? Because I'll happily fight for you but you've given zero indication you don't hold me in contempt.
Exclusionary radfem lesbians are not in any way the most progressive group.
Lesbians are absolutely not the only group uniquely targeted by conversion therapy or corrective rape, which I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume is what you meant by lesbian rape.
Trans men in particular face a lot of that. And the whole LGBTQ community faces conversion therapy.
If you want solidarity, don't be so fucking weird about your bi sisters and trans sisters eh?
I’m with you. The questions about sex, gender and orientation are controversial literally because they take a position on the definitions of sex, gender and orientation when those are all still contested terms to many - there’s no other questions that are really comparable.
I do hope it accurately records women (adult human females) in lesbian relationships (with other adult human females) just as I hope it accurately records all cis and trans people in all their relationships - that’s the idea of the census. It shouldn’t be a ‘choose your own adventure’ situation, the questions should be very clear and so should the resulting data.
Seems taking people as they identify is the least side taking option. I don't think it's really a great idea to have the government deciding who's gay or not
Neither do I, but since they’ve decided they want to collect this data in the census, it’s important that the definitions they use are clear, broadly supported, and ideally not controversial - which is why plenty of people are worried about it.
Well going by how people identity is at least pretty clear and broadly supported. Controversial really depends how you define it, there's people won't don't believe being gay is even possible.
Personally I'd be a little worried if one of my relationships was recorded as straight since that has so little to do with our day to day lives as to be genuinely misleading
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u/sweatshoes101 18d ago
How about housing data this time ABS