States are vested with the authority of the government for purposes of civil marriage, many people are not aware of the distinction between civil and religious marriage and assume that the 2 are inextricably linked. However, the following analysis presumes this distinction. It addresses issues related to civil marriage, leaving issues of religious marriage to religious organizations and individuals.
A civil union is a legal mechanism, sanctioned by civil authority, intended to grant same-gender couples legal status somewhat similar to civil marriage. In the United States, civil unions have been established only in Vermont and Connecticut. In these states, same-gender couples are granted the same state-level rights, benefits, and protections as those granted to heterosexual married couples. No other states recognize civil unions. As such, same-gender couples considered to be legally united in either of those states are treated as single individuals when they cross into other states.
Unlike the national governments of some foreign countries, the US federal government does not recognize civil unions. As a result, >1000 federal rights, benefits, and protections are not made available to same-gender couples joined by civil union in the United States.
A domestic partnership is a relationship between 2 individuals, often but not necessarily of the same gender, who live together and mutually support one another as spouses but who are not legally joined in a civil marriage or a civil union. Some same-gender couples enter into domestic partnership agreements to create legally enforceable contracts involving property, finances, inheritance, and/or health care. Domestic partnerships do not reach the same legal threshold as civil unions or civil marriages and, accordingly, do not afford couples the rights, benefits, and protections of civil marriage.
In 1990, the US Census Bureau began allowing individuals to describe another same-gender household member with whom the respondent has a relationship as an “unmarried partner.” By comparing the gender of the household members who identified themselves as unmarried partners, the Census Bureau was able to identify unmarried couples made up of 2 men or 2 women. The 1990 count of same-gender unmarried-partner couples was 145130.1
Census 2000 also collected data on unmarried-partner households of the same and opposite genders. A special report on this topic from the Census Bureau indicated that the number of same-gender unmarried-partner households was 594691 in 2000.2 The increase over the 1990 count is likely a result of changes in social climate with regard to gay and lesbian relationships, a willingness on the part of census respondents to identify their sexual orientation, and use of anonymous versus in-person survey methods.
Numerous demographers report that this number, although significant, is still likely to be a considerable undercount of the actual number of same-gender partner households in the United States. Several factors explain this undercount. For confidentiality reasons, some couples may have preferred not to identify the nature of their relationship on a government survey. Some couples may define their relationship as something other than husband/wife or unmarried partner. Other couples may consider themselves married according to a more broad interpretation of the social construct of civil marriage. However, for the purposes of the 2000 census report, after the enactment of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996, the Census Bureau was required to invalidate any responses that designated a same-gender individual as a spouse and assign those responses to the same-gender unmarried-partner category.3 Research indicates that the Census Bureau missed at least 16% to 19% of all gay or lesbian couples in the 2000 count.4
Despite the likelihood of an undercount and the legal restrictions on the Census Bureau resulting from the enactment of DOMA, Census 2000 represents the most comprehensive source of data on same-gender partnered households to date, allowing demographe