Posted by want2bfree on November 3, 2009, 10:36 pm, in reply to "Nearly one-third of same-sex couples are raising children"
Gee, I should have had this last week during mediation when the H and his gay hating attorney stated, "Research shows," and I said, "What ####ing reasearch have you been reading?"
--Previous Message--
: Report: Gay couples similar to straight
: spouses
: Nearly one-third of same-sex couples are
: raising children, data shows
:
: updated 6:47 p.m. PT, Mon., Nov . 2, 2009
:
: SAN FRANCISCO - Same-sex couples who
: identify as married are similar to straight
: spouses in terms of age and income, and
: nearly one-third of them are raising
: children, according to Census data released
: Monday that provides a demographic snapshot
: of gay families in America.
:
: The study released by a think tank based at
: UCLA also found that Utah and Wyoming were
: among the states with the highest
: percentages of gay spouses in 2008, despite
: being heavily conservative states with no
: laws providing legal recognition of gay
: relationships.
:
: The data from the annual American Community
: Survey showed that nearly 150,000 same-sex
: couples in the U.S., or more than one in
: four, referred to one another as
: "husband" or "wife,"
: although UCLA researchers estimate that no
: more than 32,000 of the couples were legally
: married.
:
: Many couples raising children
: The couples had an average age of 52 and
: household incomes of $91,558, while 31
: percent were raising children. That compares
: with an average age of 50, household income
: of $95,075 and 43 percent raising children
: for married heterosexual couples.
:
: "It's intrinsically interesting that
: same-sex couples who use the term spouses
: look like opposite-sex married couples even
: with a characteristic like children,"
: said Gary Gates, the UCLA demographer who
: conducted the analysis. "Most
: proponents of traditional marriage will say
: that when you allow these couples to marry,
: you are going to change the fundamental
: nature of marriage by decoupling it from
: procreation. Clearly, in the minds of
: same-sex couples who are marrying or think
: of themselves as married, you are not
: decoupling child-rearing from
: marriage."
:
: Gates said the report is the first to
: reliably compare same-sex couples who
: identify as married with gays who say
: they're in unmarried partnerships and with
: married opposite-sex couples.
:
: In the past, same-sex couples who referred
: to one another as "husband" or
: "wife" automatically were recorded
: as unmarried partners, a step gay rights
: activists lobbied the Census Bureau to
: eliminate as more states have legalized
: same-sex unions.
:
: Unsurprisingly, Massachusetts, where gay
: couples have been able to get married since
: 2004, had the highest proportion of same-sex
: couples who were either legally married or
: considered themselves married, 3.63 for
: every 1,000 households. Vermont, which
: allowed same-sex couples to enter in civil
: unions with all the rights and obligations
: of marriage in 1999 and made same-sex
: marriages legal this year, came in second,
: with a rate of 2.71 per 1,000.
:
: But Hawaii, Utah and Wyoming states with
: neither civil unions nor same-sex marriage
: came in next, ahead of California, Nevada,
: Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
: What accounts for the phenomenon is unclear,
: but "it does provide this evidence that
: there are clearly couples in conservative
: parts of the country who do use these terms
: and do see their relationships in that
: framework."
:
: A marriage mentality here
: Melissa Bird, a 35-year-old Utah lobbyist,
: said she understood why her home state has
: so many same-sex couples who see themselves
: as married, even though the state government
: does not recognize them that way. Bird and
: her 26-year-old partner had a commitment
: ceremony two years ago in Utah that wasn't
: legally binding. They tied the knot legally
: in California last year before voters
: approved a gay marriage ban.
:
: "There is very much a marriage
: mentality here in Utah," said Bird,
: whom considers her partner her wife.
: "We know a lot of people who get
: 'married' in quotes. It never crossed our
: minds not to do it."
:
: Once same-sex couples who labeled themselves
: as unmarried partners were factored in,
: however, the geographic distribution changed
: significantly. The District of Columbia came
: in first, with same-sex couples both
: unmarried partners and those who called
: themselves married representing 14.12 of
: every 1,000 households. Maine, where voters
: on Tuesday will decide whether to repeal a
: law that legalized same-sex marriage, was
: next, with gay couples heading up a little
: more than eight of every 1,000 households.
:
: Although the report includes the first
: official estimates for the number of
: same-sex couples who call themselves wives
: or husbands, Gates said collecting accurate
: data on the marital status of gay couples
: remains difficult because of the hodgepodge
: of laws affecting their relationships. In
: addition, many couples may be reluctant to
: identify themselves as such if their
: neighbors, families and employers do not
: know they are gay, he said.
:
: The Census Bureau has promised to produce a
: report on the marital status of gay couples
: after the once-a-decade national census is
: completed next year. However, the bureau
: said there was too little time to change the
: questionnaire to separate out legally
: married gay couples in the nationwide tally.
:
: Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All
: rights reserved. This material may not be
: published, broadcast, rewritten or
: redistributed.
:
:
:
: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33595163/ns/us_news-life/
:
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