Census Findings - More Same Sex Couples

I suspect that the actual number of same sex couples has not increased drastically over the past decade and that instead, more are merely open about their relationships and feel comfortable in reporting the truth about their lives on census forms and other such tracking questionnaires. Or maybe they are simply tired of hiding who they are. Whatever the reason, census data shows a rise in same sex couples and our increased visibility will make it increasingly difficult for legislators in backward states like Virginia to pretend that gay households do not exist as they go through contortions to kiss the asses of Christianists such as those at The Family Foundation and other Christian extremists groups of which Virginia seems to have an abundance. The Boston Globe looks at the data for Massachusetts where there's been 1 17% increase in same sex couples that have so identified. Here are some highlights:
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In the decade that saw Massachusetts become the first state to legalize gay marriage, the number of reported same-sex couples in the state climbed sharply, suggesting to many advocates that there is a growing public acceptance and that more gay couples are willing to declare their relationships openly.
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Since 2000, the number of couples living together in the state who identified themselves as same sex rose roughly 17 percent, to more than 20,000, according to the latest estimates from the US Census Bureau.
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In 2009, the state’s proportion of same-sex couples ranked among the country’s highest, and census surveys showed gay couples living across the state, in communities large and small.
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The increase in same-sex couples was more pronounced nationally than in Massachusetts, suggesting that changes in reporting were largely responsible, according to Gary J. Gates, a researcher who specializes in same-sex demographics at UCLA’s Williams Institute. Gates notes that the largest increases tended to be in rural and socially conservative parts of the country where couples might have previously been reluctant to acknowledge their relationship, if only by checking a box on a census form.
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You would expect they would have a bigger closet in 2000,’’ he said, listing Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Utah among the states with the largest increases in same-sex couples.
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[M]any older gay couples remain wary of reporting their status honestly, despite the legal gains and cultural shifts. “The habits of a lifetime,’’ she said. That is changing, especially among young adults.
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Many same-sex partners report that they are married, even in states where gay marriage is not recognized. In the most recent census survey, some 47 percent of same-sex couple households in Massachusetts described themselves as married, compared to 33 percent in 2000.