Same-sex marriage may not yet be legal at the federal level or in every state, but the U.S. Census Bureau is seeking to count same-sex married couples in the 2010 Census, and is reaching out to gay and lesbian communities across America to solicit their help in capturing an accurate picture of their relationships. Che Ruddell-Tabisola, the national LGBT partnership leader for the Census Bureau, commented on the Bureau’s efforts to capture same-sex couples in its count:
“Our job is to get an accurate count. … One of the most important things is for same-sex couples to know that it is 100 percent safe to participate in the census.”
Safe for two reasons:
First, individuals’ census data are confidential. Second, nowhere on the 2010 census form does the government actually ask for anyone to identify his or her sexual orientation. Boxes exist for “male,” “female” and for spousal relationship. The existence of a same-same marriage or partnership is surmised from the data.
The 2010 Census form does not actually have a category for same-sex couples or gays and lesbians to self-identify. Rather, the Bureau is asking same-sex couples to mark the appropriate gender box and select “married” on the Census form, regardless of whether same-sex marriage is legal in their respective state or not. In previous years the Census Bureau has assumed it was a mistake when a Census form included two individuals of the same sex and the “married” box was checked, and the Bureau graciously corrected the gender on those forms to reflect a heterosexual couple. In 2010, the Bureau is assuming that where a form indicates two individuals of the same gender and “married”, that in fact it is a married couple and will count it as such. The Bureau will extrapolate data based on marital status and gender to determine how many same-sex couples there are in the United States for the first time since the government began collecting this information.
As Iowans set to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Iowa Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling this Saturday, the general political tone in the state seems to be one of acceptance. After a year of gay marriage in the mid-Western state, many Iowans are simply not phased by the change and they say society has not changed dramatically. The political tide of the gay marriage issue in Iowa has also changed over the course of the year, just follow Iowa Democratic Governor Chet Culver on the issue:
Prior to the ruling, Culver said he would be willing to call legislators into special session to “do whatever it takes to protect marriage between a man and a woman.” On the day of the court’s decision, Culver released a tepid statement, saying he wanted to review the ruling with the attorney general before “reacting to what it means for Iowa.” It was nearly a week before the governor released a statement saying that while he personally believed marriage was between one man and one woman, he was “reluctant to support amending the Iowa Constitution” to overturn the court’s ruling.
Flash forward to this week, just a few days before the ruling’s one-year anniversary, and Culver’s position has become more steadfast.
“We stood firm for the civil rights of every Iowan by saying loudly and clearly that any and all efforts to add discriminatory amendments to our state constitution have no place in our state constitution,” Culver said, later adding: “The overwhelming majority of Iowans do not want to amend our constitution in such as a way that’s discriminatory. I think that’s the bottom line.”
Two people who have been involved in the gay marriage debate are Anthony Brown, Director of the Cedar Rapids Gay and Lesbian Resource Center, and Reverend Tom Capo of the People’s Choice Unitarian Universalist church in Cedar Rapids. Brown and Rev. Capo note that the change in Iowa over the past year has been a positive one:
Brown said all Iowans are equal, and the ruling has made such a difference in how the rest of the country views Iowa. He said it’s made Iowa on top when it comes to be progressive with civil rights issues.
Reverend Capo at has seen many couples get married in his church, many even from out of state. “I was in Texas before I came to Cedar Rapids. All I could do was bless unions that were not legal. It was wonderful to bless these unions, but to be able to say I actually married a gay or lesbian couple and they have the same rights as everybody else, is just a wonderful thing,” said Rev. Capo. Despite the changes, he says he’s found people that didn’t notice any changes. “Most of them say they haven’t seen any difference and actually most of them are coming around to a point where they say it’s not affecting them, so live and let live,” said Rev. Capo.
