Dumping gender and sexuality questions from the census doesn’t make us less gay – it leaves us uninformed

Pride march over Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2023. ‘The Australian government has intervened after lengthy public consultation and quietly dumped a proposal to include a question about sexuality and gender diversity in the upcoming census.’ Photograph: David Gray/JM/Getty Images

All roads lead to the census. For knowledge about who we are as a community – even the very roads we drive on – the census is the guiding beacon of truth.

Counting people and finding out the who, what and where is central to tax reallocation, identifying needs and providing resources. Without quality census data, governments are blindfolded.