This week, the U.S. Census made it official that over 7 out of 10 (72%) of all American households have responded and mailed back their completed 2010 Census forms – roughly on par with the mail-in participation results by this date in the 2000 Census. Beginning Monday, May 3, thousands of Census representatives will ask the rest of us to complete our forms.
Reviewing the 2000 Census just ten years ago, we learned that same-sex couples actually live in 99.8 percent of all counties in the United States – and much more. As Dr. Lee Badgett, Research Director at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, notes, “Census data have done more to make LGBT families and their needs visible than any other source of data we have.”
Now that we know how much it matters, how does your own community stack up among leaders in 2010 Census participation rates? How does your hometown or zip code compare with others? For participation rates at the state, county and even the zip code level, take a look at 2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/.
Knowing the importance of this year’s Census count, especially with greater emphasis on counting same-sex coupled households – keep in mind, that the next critical phase of the 2010 Census begins next week when thousands of Census trackers go door to door to find the 45 million households still left uncounted, including LGBT households.
For more background on the 2010 Census, check out www.2010census.gov. Be sure to visit www.ourfamiliescount.org for details specifically for LGBT households – with questions and answers found there in both English and Spanish.
