Census: 600,000 Same-Sex Households

By GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Same-sex partners head households in nearly every county in the country, show census figures from one of the most comprehensive counts yet of homosexuals in the United States. Gay or lesbian couple-led homes totaled close to 600,000 nationwide.

Among states, California and New York have the biggest shares of the country's 594,391 same sex couple-led homes, according to results from the 2000 census. And more than 99 percent of all counties had at least one household headed by unmarried partners of the same sex, including places in the rural Midwest and Deep South.

Overall, such living arrangement still make up a tiny share of American households - just over one-half of 1 percent of the 105.5 million homes.

Yet many gay rights groups said the count alone offered proof of changing societal views over homosexuality. The data would be used in battles over issues such as discrimination and legal recognition of same-sex couples, said Paula Ettelbrick of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

``The next step is to get federal, state and local government to begin responding to these communities,'' Ettelbrick said. The results also dispel stereotypes that homosexuality is limited to large urban centers and college towns, she said.

Unsurprisingly, the three most populous states also had the highest proportions of same-sex couple households:

-No. 1 California, with 10.9 percent of U.S. households, had almost 16 percent of same-sex homes.

-No. 3 New York, with 6.7 percent of U.S. households, had 8 percent of same-sex homes.

-No. 2 Texas, with 7 percent of U.S. households, had 7.2 percent of the same-sex homes.

Among cities, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York had some of the largest numbers of same-sex homes.

And an analysis by demographer Gary Gates of the Urban Institute, a think tank, found same-sex couple homes in 97 percent of the country's ``census tracts,'' which are far smaller than counties, reflecting how widely dispersed that population is.

Brenda Henson said life has improved a bit since she and her partner moved eight years ago to rural Ovett, Miss., to open a feminist retreat center. The census found 109 of the 24,275 households in Jones County, where they live, were headed by same-sex couples.

Once the target of constant threats, Henson said they are now on good terms with neighbors and have a charge account at a grocery store that once turned them away.

``This is where we belong, much to the chagrin of many around us,'' Henson said. ``But things are changing.''

National figures on households led by homosexual couples come as the Census Bureau finished releasing the first wave of data from the 2000 count for all 50 states. Results for Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas were released Wednesday.

The figures were derived by counting the number of people who checked off ``unmarried partner'' on their form who also said they lived with someone of the same sex.

Advocacy groups for gays and lesbians consider that to be a same sex couple since other options such as ``roommate,'' ``boarder'' or ``other non-relative'' were available.

The census count is not an official or complete tally of homosexuals since the form does not ask about sexuality. So a gay person living alone could not be identified on a form as gay.

In addition, concerns over confidentiality and discrimination likely caused an undercount, analysts said, despite campaigns by advocacy groups for same-sex unmarried partners to disclose their relationships on the census.

The 1990 census form was the first to offer an ``unmarried partner'' checkoff. That census found 145,130 same sex couple homes in the country, with such homes in 52 percent of all counties, Gates found.

However, the bureau warned that data cannot be directly compared with 2000 because of differences in their collection and analysis.