WASHINGTON — Nearly 150,000 same-sex couples reported being in marriage relationships last year, more than the number of actual weddings and civil unions, according to the first U.S. census figures released on that category.
About 27 percent of the estimated 564,743 total gay couples in the United States said they were in a relationship akin to “husband” and “wife,” according to the Census Bureau tally. A consultant to the Census Bureau estimated there were roughly 100,000 official same-sex weddings, civil unions and domestic partnerships in 2008.
Analysts said the disparities probably reflect same-sex couples in committed relationships who would get married if they could in their states.
Nationwide, about 56 percent of the 149,956 total same-sex marriages in the Census Bureau survey last year were lesbian couples.
The Associated Press
