The AP's Lisa Leff reports that officials at the 2010 Census are struggling to work out how to count married and unmarried same-sex couples when spousal rights for gay couples differ so widely from state to state:
"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 University of California, Los Angeles 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."
They add: "…it's become clearer that a wildly inflated number could be produced
if the number of heads of household who said they lived with another
adult of the same sex, and described that person as a husband or wife,
were only counted. Some couples in civil unions or domestic
partnerships, or who live as spouses in states where gay couples have
no spousal rights, have tended in past surveys to identify themselves
as husbands or wives anyway, according to Gates."
Also: "Although the census has not attempted to count individuals who
identify as gay, lesbian or transgender, they could be included in the
next count or even future editions of the annual American Community
Survey, Olsen said. The survey, which is much more detailed than the
10-question census form that will be mailed to every household in
March, is designed to give state and local governments a snapshot of
how their populations are changing. Olsen said gay leaders need to keep advocating if they want to be recognized."
