George Takei and husband Brad Altman
are encouraging gay and lesbian couples to be counted in a new Census
Bureau public service announcement.
“This is the first time in history
the Census is counting marriages like ours,” an enthusiastic Altman
says.
“It doesn't matter whether you have a
legal marriage license or not,” Takei adds. “It only matters if
you consider yourself married.”
It is the first time the Census Bureau
has created official PSAs geared to the LGBT community.
According to a statement released
Thursday by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
(GLAAD), the government will release a total of six PSAs that
encourage gay men, lesbians and transgender persons to complete the
Census. Each video will feature a well-known community leader.
Takei and Altman will join openly
lesbian New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn on Monday at
the LGBT Center in New York City to officially launch the campaign.
At the Census
Bureau's You Tube channel, however, several of the videos have
already been posted. They feature Harry Knox, director of
Religion and Faith Program at the Human Rights Campaign, Mara
Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender
Equality, Earl Fowlkes, president and CEO of the International
Federation of Black Prides, and Ben de Guzman, co-director for
programming at National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance,
encouraging everyone to be counted.