2010 Census Won't Recognize Same-Sex Couples, Married or Not

"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...

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.'"