2010 Census To Count Gay Couples

As White House press secretary Robert Gibbs hinted on Friday, the 2010 U.S. Census will now include questions about LGBT relationships.

US Census Bureau officials have said that the 2010 census will count married gay couples, despite previous statements that they would not be recognised. Steve Jost, a spokesman for the Census Bureau, said the organisation was already working on technical changes to ensure valid information was given. He told AP: "They will be counted, and they ought to report the way they see themselves.
"In the normal process of reports coming out after the census of 2010, I think the country will have a good data set on which to discuss this phenomenon that is evolving in this country." The last US census was carried out in 2000, when gay couples could not marry in any state.

RELATED: The UK's 2011 census will also ask about civil partnerships, but sexual orientation will not be mentioned.