Census Bureau won't count same-sex marriages

[Rick Munroe]

The U.S. Census Bureau, reacting to the federal Defense of Marriage Act and other mandates, plans to edit the 2010 census responses of same-sex couples who marry legally in California, Massachusetts or any other state. They will be reported as "unmarried partners," rather than married spouses, in census tabulations - a policy that will likely draw the ire of gay rights groups.

 

Critics say the census plan will mask the records of legal, same-sex, married couples and therefore degrade the quality of the government's demographic data.

 

"I just think it's bad form for the census to change a legal response to an incorrect response," said Gary Gates of the Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California-Los Angeles law school that studies gay-related public policy issues. "That goes against everything the census stands for."

 

Gates, a prominent demographer who was consulted by Census Bureau officials about counting legally married same-sex couples, said one result is that the census will undercount marriages in states with gay marriage. And because the bureau defines a "family" as two or more people related by birth, adoption or marriage, it also will remove many same-sex married couples from being counted as families.

 

"It's a systematic hiding not only of married gay couples, but gay couples as families, which I would argue is a fundamentally political decision," Gates said.

 

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9860727?nclick_check=1

[Guest tuesclavo]

Every regulatory and gov. nook and cranny has been politicized starting in 2000, from Supreme Court, EPA, FCC, FDA, etc. down to Park Rangers out in nowhere land, etc. so why not the Census Bureau? There is so much work to do, or undo for Obama, just rebuilding basic democratic institutions. I think even McCain would be preferable to current admin. in this regard.

[pegasian]

The RIGHT-WING Agenda is to turn back the clock to the 1950's in every sense possible. In lieu of pushing us back in the closet they are demographically making us invisible. Ignoring ethics and civil rights has become a symptom of the disease attacking the body of this country for the past 7+ years.

[+ deej]

> which I would argue is a fundamentally political decision

 

.... which would make this fundamentally a political discussion posted in the wrong forum, eh?

 

The irony here, of course, is that the opponents of gay marriage who claim it will devalue marriage are seeing their predictions come true. Because of their myopia, marriage (and families) are being under-counted and under-reported.

 

Marriage is, indeed, sinking like a rock because of gay marriages. But only because they're not being counted.

 

<barf!>