![accurate gay test accurate gay test](https://s.france24.com/media/display/585cee86-a8c9-11e9-aede-005056a98db9/w:720/p:16x9/blood-donation-m.jpg)
same-sex married couples compared with about 56 million opposite-sex married couples. The 2012 American Community Survey estimated there are about 182,000 U.S. This is relatively rare, but if even a small share of the nation’s millions of opposite-sex married couples makes a mistake, it can have a large impact in driving up the relatively small number of same-sex married couples. The major reason why same-sex married-couple counts are artificially high, according to census officials, is that one partner in some opposite-sex married couples unintentionally checked the wrong sex box on the census questionnaire. The problem was far worse for same-sex married couples, 62% of whom were likely opposite-sex married couples, than for same-sex unmarried couples, 7% of whom were likely opposite-sex unmarried couples. In 2011, the bureau announced that more than one-in-four of all same-sex couples counted in the 2010 census was likely an opposite-sex couple, and it published markedly lower revised totals. The problem with the initial same-sex couple data is that it likely contained too many heterosexual couples. The bureau then matches this information with the spouse or partner’s answers to the sex question to determine whether they are a same-sex or opposite-sex couple.Īfter the bureau released its first count of same-sex married-couple households three years ago, using data from the 2010 census, it acknowledged that the numbers were inflated and thus less than ideal to rely upon. The current relationship question has more than a dozen answer categories, including “husband/wife,” as well as “unmarried partner,” an option added in 1990. Instead, it produces estimates of same-sex couples based mainly on respondents’ answers to questions about their sex and about how other people in a household are related to the householder (the person who fills out the census form). The Census Bureau doesn’t ask a direct question about same-sex marriage. Some states that allow same-sex marriage collect their own data about the number of such unions, but the Census Bureau is the nation’s major source of numbers about both counts and characteristics of same-sex married couples. For example, marital status can affect eligibility for some programs such as welfare and food stamps. The numbers are important to know as a measure of how society is changing, to gauge the well-being of same-sex married-couple families and to help government agencies assess the need for various types of programs. There is intense interest in the numbers and characteristics of same-sex married couples, as a growing number of states have legalized same-sex marriage and the federal government-reacting to a Supreme Court ruling last year-has expanded the rights of those couples.
![accurate gay test accurate gay test](https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/styles/opengraph/public/multimedia_images_2018/201812lgbt_russia_main_1.jpg)
According to a presentation earlier this month, the bureau found problems with the data “much worse” than the agency expected. Census Bureau is testing new marriage and relationship questions on its surveys in hopes of producing more accurate numbers in the next few years. Now the federal government’s task is to produce an accurate count of same-sex married couples.Īcknowledging a “very serious problem” of flawed same-sex marriage data, the U.S.
![accurate gay test accurate gay test](https://www.verywellhealth.com/thmb/ZDWD77gFjNtx0Pu0vGrSrlYR7Pc=/2121x1414/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-1157721721-230bbca60626480a955e13999c2cfa59.jpg)
Same-sex marriage is now legal in Washington, D.C., and 17 states (and Arkansas will join them, if a lower-court judge’s ruling last week is upheld). The Census Bureau does not currently ask directly about same-sex marriages or partnerships.