The US Census Bureau has decided
to bring itself in line with public opinion and start
categorising same-sex married couples as 'families', the
Washington Post reports.
The new categorisation will be in effect as of September,
when the results of the 2013 American Community Survey will be
reported.
Until now gay couples have been categorised as unmarried
partners, even when they reported themselves as spouses.
The source points out that the relatively small number of
gay married couples - around 180,000 - in the US means that the
change will have only a minor effect on the statistical outcome
of the survey and that its significance is largely symbolic.
"I think the American public already thinks same-sex
married couples are families, and the Census Bureau is just
catching up with public opinion," said Andrew J. Cherlin, a
sociologist at Johns Hopkins University who studies families.
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