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Same-Sex Couples’ Construction of Census Categories

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International Handbook on the Demography of Sexuality

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 5))

Abstract

As mandated in Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, those residing in the United States are asked to fill out a census questionnaire every 10 years for the purpose of enumeration of the population. Over time, the U.S. Census Bureau has needed to target particular demographic groups in order to encourage their completion of the census questionnaire. In 2000, a multiple group collaboration of some LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) groups implemented an educational campaign which was informally coordinated with the Census Bureau (Williams Institute 2010). The purpose of this campaign was to encourage those who are living in a romantic relationship with someone of the same sex to “be counted” on the census via the “unmarried partner” category which is used to measure cohabitation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Northern Illinois University, 912 Zulauf, DeKalb, IL, 60115, USA

    Carol S. Walther

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  1. Carol S. Walther
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Correspondence to Carol S. Walther .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Sociology, University of Houston, Philip Hoffman Hall 450, Houston, 77204, Texas, USA

    Amanda K. Baumle

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Notes

1. The census questionnaire does not ask about sexual orientation identity, behaviors, or desires. Since the 1970 census form, individuals can answer the census questions themselves. Individuals marked their race, ethnicity, gender, family or household relationship to the head of the household (Person 1) (U.S. Census Bureau 2000).

2. In the chapter, I use same-sex, same-sex, and gay men and lesbians interchangeably. As many scholars point out “sex” is usually referring to a biological designation such as a child born XX or XY (Fausto-Sterling 2000). Gender has usually referred to individuals performing a specific gender role such as wearing a dress or a suit (West and Zimmerman 1987). Even though I have interviewees who are transgender (biological born as one sex, but living as a different gender than birth) who were self-identified as gay or lesbian, I use same-sex throughout the chapter because it is the most commonly used in demographic literature. Additionally, all my interviewees self-identified as gay, lesbian, or queer. Therefore, I utilize gay men or lesbian in the chapter.

3. Similarly race and ethnicity identification on census forms suggests that people’s ideas about race and ethnicity may change at the individual level, but also could be edited once received by the Census Bureau (Kertzer and Arel 2001; Rodríguez 1992, 2000). Categories of race and ethnicity have changed throughout the history of the census questionnaire (Anderson 1988; Lee 1993).

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Walther, C.S. (2013). Same-Sex Couples’ Construction of Census Categories. In: Baumle, A. (eds) International Handbook on the Demography of Sexuality. International Handbooks of Population, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5512-3_20

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