 |
Sex-Same Partners Multiply |
|
Compiled By GayToday
Washington, D.C.--The latest statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau
this week show a dramatic and unprecedented increase in the number of reported
same-sex partner households in eight states plus Washington, D.C. These figures
reinforce a trend first detailed last week, when statistics from the states
of Delaware and Vermont were released.
The new data show that the number of respondents who reported in the year 2000 that they make up same-sex partner households increased since 1990 by more than 700 percent in Nevada; more than 500 percent in Louisiana; more than 400 percent in Indiana and Nebraska; more than 300 percent in Montana; more than 200 percent in Connecticut, Illinois and Massachusetts; and about 66 percent in Washington, D.C. The new statistics reveal the most comprehensive picture ever recorded of the changing nature of the U.S. family in the 21st Century. U.S. Census Bureau data documenting same-sex partner households has now been released from 10 states plus Washington, D.C. Figures released last week showed a 781 percent increase in Delaware and a 422 percent increase in Vermont. "For the first time ever, government has begun documenting the 21st Century family," said Lorri L. Jean, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "The dramatic increase in same-sex partner households reflected in these Census figures shows that one of our primary mandates is to ensure that every gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender family receives the same services, benefits and treatment given to other families."
"The Census numbers reflect the changing face of our society," Ettelbrick said. "As a community, we clearly shifted our focus in the 1990s to securing our family relationships through domestic partner benefits, adoption rights and same-sex marriage. The Census numbers mirror the unprecedented rise in the visibility of our families during the past decade." Ettelbrick added that one of the significant trends found in the data is the presence of same-sex couples living in the vast majority of small towns and rural areas, in addition to living in mid-sized and large cities where popular stereotype views them residing. More data documenting the number of same-sex partner households in Alabama, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio and New York is scheduled to be released Wednesday, June 27. A schedule for the remaining states has not been announced yet. "Public policy flows from the U.S. Census," Jean explained. "If we are not counted, we lose out on federal funding for research, funding for community services and passage of laws that benefit our community. We also sacrifice important opportunities for more equitable political representation of our community." During the spring of 2000, the NGLTF Policy Institute and the Institute for Gay and Lesbian Strategic Studies sponsored a nationwide campaign called "Make Your Family Count!" This public education campaign, which reached approximately 18 million newspaper readers, was aimed at encouraging same-sex couples within GLBT communities to be counted in the U.S. Census. The statistics released Wednesday show:
Released on June 13:
|
