150,000 Married Gay Couples Walk Into the U.S. Census Bureau

by Michael Jones · 2009-09-21 13:54:00 UTC
Topics:

Gay Couples

The U.S. Census Bureau has released figures today detailing the number of same-sex couples in the United States that identify as "married," showing that close to 150,000 gay and lesbian couples report themselves as in a marriage. That's just about as big as the population of Dayton, Ohio, and an indicator that the Obama administration did the right thing in deciding to include same-sex couples among the 2010 U.S. Census head count.

During 2008, same-sex marriage was legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut and California (for about six months, at least). And as AP notes, U.S. same-sex couples also can marry in Canada and other countries that recognize marriage equality.

While these numbers are smaller than they should be (imagine how high these numbers would be if all 50 states recognized marriage equality), they're still a pretty huge sign that the LGBT population is not invisible when it comes to the subject of marriage.

All told in the U.S., there are approximately 564,743 total gay and lesbian couples in the U.S. And for that number, forget Dayton, Ohio :)  That's the size of Wyoming!

(Photo courtesy of bobster855's photostream on Flickr.)

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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