Massachusetts and California may have decided to legalize gay “marriage,” but the U.S. Census Bureau will not count same-sex “marriages” in its 2010 census report.
Census officials said even though same-sex “marriage” is legal in some states, federal law defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
“The U.S. Census Bureau procedures used to count and tabulate relationship data are guided by and comply with legal requirements of the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, which requires all federal agencies to recognize only opposite-sex marriages for the purposes of administering federal programs,” said Stephen Buckner, a spokesman for the Census Bureau. “Many of these programs rely on Census Bureau statistics.”
Jenny Tyree, associate marriage analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the Census Bureau is just one arena in which a redefinition of marriage would cause chaos.
“The word 'marriage' has long been understood across many cultures as the cooperative union of male and female with a vital interest in the next generation,” she said. “Thankfully, President Clinton signed the federal Defense of Marriage Act and gave the Census Bureau a clear guideline.”
The Census Bureau defines a family as two or more people related by birth, adoption or marriage. So, if a respondent refers to a person of the same gender as "husband" or "wife" on the 2010 census form, the Census Bureau will assign them to the "unmarried partner" category.
California, Arizona and Florida will vote on marriage-protection amendments in November. Jennifer Kerns, communications director for ProtectMarriage.com — a group sponsoring the California marriage amendment — said she is pleased the Census Bureau is upholding the law.
“The way that the federal government looks at it is the way that the law says it should be in California,” she said. “We’re very confident we’ve got the law on our side here in California. We’re going to fight very vigorously to get this passed in November.”
