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Gay Couples in Almost Every U.S. County

Gay Couples in Almost Every U.S. County

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It's official: We truly are everywhere. There are 901,997 same-sex couples in the United States, and they are represented in 99% of U.S. counties, according to an analysis of 2010 U.S. Census data by the Williams Institute.

The institute, a think tank based at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, also reports that 60% of the couples are female, 40% male, and that 22% of all couples are raising children.

"Child-rearing among same-sex couples is most common in the Deep South and Mountain West regions," Williams Institute demographer Gary Gates said in a press release. "In these socially conservative areas, LGBT people likely come out later in life and are more likely to have a child from a relationship with a different-sex partner when they were younger."

Among large cities -- population of more than 250,000 -- the five the with the highest proportion of same-sex couples were, in order from number 1, San Francisco; Seattle; Oakland, Calif.; Minneapolis; and Atlanta. Among mid-size cities -- population 100,000 -- the greatest concentration of gay couples was in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Berkeley, Calif.; Salt Lake City; Cambridge, Mass.; and Orlando, Fla. Among cities with fewer than 100,000 residents, the top five were Provincetown, Mass.; Wilton Manors, Fla.; Palm Springs, Calif.; Rehoboth Beach, Del.; and Guerneville, Calif.

Find more information via a downloadable PDF here.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.