I really like the “Primary Sources” section of The Atlantic. Each month it summarizes and excerpts various recent reports and studies, and usually has some interesting maps and charts. This month’s issue has a bit about the geography of campaign contributions (“The Nation in Numbers”), based on maps at Fundrace.org. The May 2004 issue includes a look at gay demographics (“Ozzie and Harry”), and reprints a map (PDF) showing the concentration of same-sex couples in D.C., based on the forthcoming Gay & Lesbian Atlas by Gary Gates and Jason Ost of the Urban Institute.
According to the authors, same-sex couples account for nearly one percent of households. Not surprisingly, male homosexual couples are likely to live in major urban areas, particularly along the East and West Coasts: San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Miami all score high on the study’s “gay index.” (In spite of its reputation, San Francisco–where 16 to 25 percent of adult males are thought to be homosexual–is only the tenth gayest town in the country, beaten out by Provincetown, Mass., and other famous gay meccas, but also by more-obscure locales, including North Druid Hills, Ga.) Lesbian couples, in contrast, tend to favor smaller cities, such as Portland, Maine, and Burlington, Vt., and also bucolic college towns–Northampton, Mass., for example. Such clustering aside, the study concludes that gay and lesbian couples are found virtually everywhere: in 99 percent of U.S. counties, according to the 2000 census. And more than a quarter of same-sex couples are raising children; these couples, like straight parents, have an average of two per family.
More articles on gay demographics are available on the Urban Institute website.
One reply on “Ozzie and Harry”
It would be intriguing to have this information for my own country. I like The Atlantic for its generosity in putting some of its best stuff on the website for free–handy when you live ‘down under’ and the postage costs more than the subscription. C’mon, maybe I shouldn’t be such a tightwad.