We are regularly barraged with news articles about the “injustice” of same-sex couples not being allowed to “marry.” But how many same-sex couples even want to be married? The most recent U.S. Census Bureau numbers indicate that the number of same-sex households that would actually take advantage of legalized “same-sex marriage” is very small – in fact miniscule.
The 2010 U.S. Census gives us actual numbers of same-sex households – a number that is dramatically lower than many of the past guesses that have been featured so prominently in the media. There are between 515,000 and 551,000 “unmarried” same-sex households in the U.S. Yet there are 117.5 million total households in the U.S. That means that just five-tenths of one percent of households in the U.S. might even have an interest in being granted the legal status of “same-sex marriage.”
Secondly, data from the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS)*shows that less than 50,000 same-sex marriages were recorded by civil authorities in the U.S. from the years 2004 to 2010. During that same period of time about 14 million heterosexual marriages were performed. Once again, we see that the number of same-sex marriage is less than four-tenths of one percent of the number of heterosexuals who are marrying.
When you consider that the number of individuals who identify as being “gay” or “bi-sexual” stands at about three percent of the total population, it seems that there is not much of a groundswell of interest among same-sex couples to run for the alter. It appears that the push for “same-sex marriage” is not about homosexuals actually desiring to marry, but it is about homosexuals seeking societal validation for their behavior.
*Daphne Lofquist, “Same-Sex Couple Households,” American Community Survey Briefs, U.S. Census Bureau, September 2011.