Census Bureau Says 2020 Count Could Include Gays
Whittier Daily News
By Lisa Leff
October 22, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Census Bureau is making an unprecedented effort to include same-sex couples in next year's national population count, but legally married gay couples won't show up as such in the official once-a- decade tally, bureau representatives said Thursday.

Statistical problems related to the development of the 2010 census form and the evolving legal state of same- sex relationships led Census officials to conclude that trying to include married gay couples in the overall snapshot of household marital status could yield an inaccurate number, said Gary Gates, a UCLA demographer who has been advising the bureau on gay issues.

Instead, same-sex married couples will be added into the category for unmarried partners, just as they were for the 2000 census. But in a marked policy departure, the agency plans to make the data on same-sex couples who described themselves as married available on a state-by- state basis.

"The Bureau has decided to give us the information, but be a little cautious," Gates said.

The decision to develop separate sets of numbers was a compromise position that was "less about politics and more about accurate data," he said.

Gates stressed it was important for gay couples to participate in the census, noting that information drawn from the last one had been used in lawsuits dealing with same- sex marriage and to lobby congressional representatives who may wrongly assume they do not have many gay Advertisement

Acai Berry EXPOSED (Official Test)This Weight Loss Special Report Will Shock You! More info... Los Angeles - Mom Lost 47lbs Following 1 RuleI Cut Down 47 lbs of Stomach Fat In A Month By Obeying This 1 Old Rule Get details... Quantcast constituents.

Because same-sex marriages were not legal in any U.S. state a decade ago, the 2010 census is the first for which the bureau has wrestled with how to count married same-sex couples. In June, census officials announced that they would make the attempt, reversing a decision made under the Bush administration.