And to think I was attempting to work for the 2010 Census. You know, they are going to have to be brought into the new century kicking and screaming. If they call, I won't be available. This really stinks.No matter the legal fate of Proposition 8, the 2010 Census will not count same-sex marriages or ask respondents about their sexual orientation.
The federal Defense of Marriage Act signed in 1996 by President Bill Clinton does not recognize gay unions sanctioned by states.
Census takers will ask same-sex couples who live together to define themselves as "unmarried partners," as they did in 2000 before some states - currently only Connecticut and Massachusetts - allowed gay marriage.
"This is all about the numbers. This not about lifestyle or anything else," says U.S. Census spokeswoman Cynthia Endo.
The omission of gay marriage and sexuality questions on the census bothers some gays and lesbians, who argue that a proper accounting would give them the same visibility as minorities, who gain political power when their numbers increase.
"I am a sociologist and census data \ very important to our existence, and I don't like it when they leave things out, it causes an undercount," says Sharon Raphael, 67, who teaches gerontology at Cal State Dominguez Hills. "Certain numbers of us are not out, and when they hide us under these general descriptions ... it just makes us more invisible."
Raphael's partner, Mina Meyer, 69, says she will probably check the "married" box when the census form arrives at their East Long Beach home.
"Somebody needs to read that, somebody in those offices needs to know there are people out here who are married," Meyer says, adding that she and Raphael married in California when it was legal last year.
Though the census will not count gay marriages, domestic partnerships, civil union or the numbers of gays and lesbians, the questionnaire should provide some insight, albeit indirectly, into those areas.
The census form, Endo says, allows respondents to identify the number of adults in a given household and their relationship. Along with husband and wife, one of those choices is "unmarried partner."
If two people of the same sex identify as husband and husband or wife and wife, the census will retain that answer, but when results are released those people will be counted as unmarried partners.
"The census is all about self-identification," Endo says. "We don't ask that question \ on the census at all, but certain information can be gleaned from that if two people are living ... in the house."
Same-sex couples with children will not be categorized as "families" on the census. Children will be counted as belonging to single parents, those "unmarried partners."
Read the rest HERE.
More later.
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How long can we hide the realities of peoples lives that we refuse to see?
ReplyDeletethat does suck lemons
ReplyDeleteThe census should be merely counting noses. There is far too much politics with the other add-on questions.
I'm confused about what "retain the answer" means. Does that mean that if you tell the census taker to mark down "married" on the census sheet that it will stay written down on that sheet?
ReplyDeleteThe reason I ask is that in 70 years, they will release the census to the public and historians will be able to read for themselves what we answered today.
Will they be able to see that two men in a given house marked themselves down as "married"? If so, then they have to do it, even if the government ignores it.
The Advocate is reporting that Barney Frank is going to propose a revision to include same sex couples.
ReplyDeleteMy job as a census taker just got a lot more interesting.
ReplyDelete