CENSUS

Gay Couple Count Deferred to 2020

Tracking same-sex pairs deemed too tricky for now.

Same-sex couples have another decade to wait before they can be recognized by the U.S. Census. Though officials had said in June that they would try to include gay married couples in the 2010 count, they determined that next year would be too soon to include same-sex couples in the portrait of America's landscape. Like the last count in 2000, gay married couples will be counted as unmarried partners. However, this time around the Census will include a new set of data for same-sex couples "who described themselves as married." Officials cited concerns about accuracy rather than politics in their decision-making process.