Jul 12, 2008 3:51 pm US/Pacific
2010 Census Won't Count CA Same-Sex Marriages
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) ―
Same-sex couple won't be counted as married in the 2010 census, despite what their California marriage license says because the Bureau is playing strictly by the federal rule book on this one.
Census-takers don't ask about sexual orientation, but they do enquire as to how you're related to other members of your household. If a woman refers to another woman as her wife the two will be put into the unmarried category. Their household won't be considered a family.
"So these spouses who have children will be counted in the census as single parents," said Gary Gates, a researcher with the William's Institute, which is a UCLA law school think tank on gay related public policy.
This is not a new decision brought on by the California legalization of same sex marriages. The bureau says it simply has a mandate to follow the 1996 Federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines the intuition as between one man and one woman.
"By and large, who has the right to marry clearly is not a federal issue since there are states who marry same-sex couples, and states who don't, the census bureau should just maintain accurate responses," said Gates.
Because of the way California keeps records, there will be no way of knowing how many same-sex couples actually tie the knot this year.
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