Gay Couples in 2020 Census, Not 2010

U.S. Census Bureau officials said Thursday that concerns for accuracy have led them to delay counting legally married same-sex couples in the 2010 census. Officials expect the information to appear in the 2020 count.

The 2010 census marks the first time officials have attempted to include same-sex couples in the population count. Since the bureau's June announcement, officials have discovered roadblocks to that goal, reports the Associated Press.

"'Statistical problems related to the development of the 2010 census form and the evolving legal state of same-sex relationships led census officials to conclude that trying to include married gay couples in the overall snapshot of household marital status could yield an inaccurate number,'" said Gary Gates, a University of California, Los Angeles, demographer advising the bureau on gay issues, according to the AP.

"Instead, same-sex married couples will be added into the category for unmarried partners, just as they were for the 2000 census. But in a marked policy departure, the agency plans to make the data on same-sex couples who described themselves as married available on a state-by-state basis," the AP reported.