ABSTRACT
This chapter argues the disruptive potentials of 'lesbian, gay, bisexual or heterosexual' categories in social government research, holding in tension deconstruction and identity politics. It addresses governmentality and the 'counting' of ethnic identities arguing that this is an act that is productive of, and legitimates, certain identities and lives. Queer can be usefully deployed to interrogate gay and lesbian lives, identities politics and practices as well as lesbian and gay research that invisiblise particular sexual/gendered lives. 'Queer' social science research has focused on qualitative enquiries. A queer deconstruction of quantitative research tools could conclude in using queer tools to deconstruct normative categorisation impulses. Recognising the importance of information, but also incompatibility between privacy, acceptability, accuracy, definitions and the 'truth' objects that the Census presents, United Kingdom Office for National Statistics (ONS) commissioned a sexual identity project. A sexual identity question was seen as relatively unique in the way answers can change due to the survey's location particularly within the home.
