on january 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, President Trump issued an executive order on “gender ideology” outlining how his administration would view sex and gender and incorporate these concepts into government. This executive order has had widespread implications across government and for federal grantees. One area that has been impacted is the federal government’s data collection efforts. This includes changes to questions about sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in multiple federal surveys, and retreating from plans to incorporate SOGI questions in surveys of the U.S. population by the Census Bureau. While data collection on both sexual orientation and gender has been scaled back or modified, measures relating to gender identity have been more specifically targeted for deletion.
Although several national surveys and data sets have been affected by changes to SOGI data collection and availability, this brief focuses specifically on changes in three national surveys that are representative of these efforts: the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS)and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). These surveys are central to the federal government’s efforts to understand the health and well-being of the U.S. population overall (NHIS) and people with Medicare (MCBS) and to understand people’s experiences with criminal victimization (NCVS), and had the potential to meaningfully expand the knowledge base in these areas as they relate to the nearly 14 million U.S. adults who identify as LGBT, and particularly the over 2 million adults who identify as transgender. Limiting SOGI data collection in these and other federal surveys moving forward will present challenges for understanding and assessing the needs and experiences of the LGBTQ population in the U.S.
Overview of Surveys Examined and Adoption of SOGI metrics
Table of Contents
The NHIS, MCBS, and NCVS offer unique opportunities to better understand the experiences of people’s health and well-being. While not the only federal sources that have historically collected SOGI data, these three surveys represent distinct and policy-relevant opportunities for the collection and use of LGBTQ data. The NHIS has included SOGI measures that enable analyses of broad population health measures, including insurance coverage patterns and overall health status. The MCBS could offer rare insight into LGBTQ older adults-a population that is typically difficult to sample due to its relatively small size (just 1.8% of adults over 65 identifyQuestions about sexual orientation and gender identity were added to the survey in 2016. The NCVS included questions asking respondents about thier sexual orientation, sex assigned at birth, gender identity, and a clarifying question used when there was a conflict between a respondent’s reported sex assigned at birth and gender identity.1 Two additional questions were asked among those who had been victimized about whether they believed it was due to “prejudice or bigotry” relating to gender identity or sexual orientation. In support of including these measures, DOJ wrote that they were “identified in other research as subgroups of interest to key stakeholders and, correlates to victimization. For example, sexual orientation and gender identity are recognized in the 2013 reauthorized Violence against Women Act (VAWA). Additionally, the inclusion of these items will allow researchers to better understand the relationships between these variables and experiences with criminal victimization.”
### Why Were SOGI Questions Added to Federal Surveys?
The inclusion of SOGI questions to federal surveys aligned with a range of efforts by the federal government to improve data collection related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
The move to collect SOGI data within the federal government was recommended in a National Academies of Sciences Report: Understanding the Well-Being of LGBTQI+ Populations and received support from a number of researchers and advocates. Other activities that led to wider collection of this data include:
* Support in Healthy People 2010, 2020 and 2030 to increase collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data in population surveys.
* In 2016, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) convened a Federal Interagency Working Group on Improving Measurement of Sexual Orientation and Gender identity in Federal Surveys “to begin addressing the dearth of data for these populations and the issues surrounding methodological issues in collecting such data.”
* In 2022, pursuant to a Biden administration executive order, the OMB released a report on the best practices for sexual orientation and gender identity data collection in federal surveys.
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The erosion of SOGI Data Collection in Federal Surveys
Experiences of violence and victimization among LGBT individuals have been increasingly documented, with research exploring the impact of intersecting factors like age, race/ethnicity, and the relationship to the assailant, frequently enough in comparison to non-LGBT populations. However, recent policy shifts have threatened the collection of crucial data related to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).
Recent Changes to SOGI Data in Federal Surveys
In January 2025, Executive Order (EO) 14168, issued by the Trump administration, mandated federal agencies to eliminate content perceived as promoting “gender ideology.” this directive, rooted in a binary view of sex, aimed to disavow the concept of gender identity. Consequently, the federal government initiated efforts to remove gender-identity related content from federal surveys and modify questions pertaining to sexual orientation and sex.
The agencies administering the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MCBS), and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) cited EO 14168 as justification for requesting changes from the Office of Management and Budget. These changes, detailed below, significantly impact the availability of SOGI data.
NHIS
Modifications were limited to the gender identity question:
* Removing a question asking about the respondent’s gender identity.
* removing the follow-up question allowing respondents who selected “something else” to describe their gender identity in their own words.
MCBS
More extensive changes were implemented in the MCBS SOGI questions:
* Removing a question asking about the respondent’s gender identity.
* Replacing a question about sex assigned at birth with a question simply asking about the respondent’s sex, without further clarification.
* Removing “something else” as a response option for sexual orientation.
* Removing the follow-up question allowing respondents who selected “something else” to describe their sexual orientation in their own words.
* Removing a question regarding experiences with unfair or insensitive treatment from healthcare providers based on demographic factors,including gender identity and sexual orientation.
Summary of Changes to Federal Surveys Regarding LGBTQ+ Data Collection & Implications
This text details changes made to two federal surveys – the NCVS (National Crime victimization Survey) and the MCBS (Monitoring the Future survey,implied) – regarding questions related to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI),and outlines the potential negative consequences of these changes.
Here’s a breakdown:
1. Changes Made:
* NCVS:
* Removed a question about experiences with unfair/insensitive treatment from healthcare providers based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
* Modifications were made to gender identity questions, but not sexual orientation questions. Specifically:
* Removed a direct question about gender identity.
* Removed a question about sex assigned at birth.
* Removed a clarifying question related to discrepancies between sex assigned at birth and gender identity.
* Temporarily paused and then reinstated a question about whether victimization was motivated by prejudice related to gender identity.
* Removed training materials related to these questions.
2. Implications of the Changes:
* Data Gaps: The removal/modification of these questions will hinder research into the experiences, challenges, and health issues faced by LGBTQ+ individuals.
* Policy impact: Policymakers will have less information to identify and address health discrimination and equity issues within the LGBTQ+ population.
* Healthcare Challenges: Healthcare providers will have less data to improve care and remove barriers for LGBTQ+ patients.
* Victimization & Violence: Reduced data collection on LGBTQ+ experiences with violence and victimization will make it harder to address unmet needs in this area. This is particularly concerning given the documented disparities in stigma, discrimination, and health outcomes experienced by LGBTQ+ people.
* Difficulty in Studying Transgender Populations: Transgender individuals represent a small percentage of the population, making it difficult for non-federal surveys to gather sufficient data.Large, national surveys were beginning to fill this gap, and their changes are thus significant. Specifically, understanding the experiences of older LGBTQ+ and transgender individuals will be particularly challenging.
* Decline in Federal Capacity: The changes represent a rollback in the federal government’s ability to measure the experiences of LGBTQ+ people.
3. Overall Assessment:
The text frames these changes as a negative development, highlighting the potential for long-term consequences for data users, providers, policymakers, and the LGBTQ+ community. Ongoing assessment is needed to fully understand the impact of these modifications.