Per the recent Northwest News brief in the latest edition of Just Out (out now at a coffee shop, downtown corner, bar, restaurant or virtually any other business near you), for the first time in history, the 2010 U.S. Census will allow same-sex couples to self-identify as either married or unmarried partners. The data collected is poised to have a huge impact for the gay, lesbian, bi and trans community in coming years.
Andrew McIlrath of the U.S. Census Bureau, and partnership specialist for gay, lesbian, bi and trans communities in Oregon, has supplied a great F.A.Q. to ensure that the pesky questionnaire is filled out correctly by the LGBT community.
Check it out after the jump, and make sure you’re represented correctly! Census forms will be delivered to households in mid-March, and completed forms should be mailed back by April 1. From April through July, census takers will visit households that did not submit a form through the mail, and the Census Bureau delivers population information to the President for apportionment in December. Each of the 10 questions on the census form helps to determine how more than $400 billion will be allocated to communities across the country.
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
