Same-sex Couples Raising Children in the Bay Area are more likely to be People of Color
This is an important study because it is one of the few LGBT research publications to highlight families of color. Similar studies that come to mind were published several years ago. Both were co-authored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
The first is Black same-sex couple households in the United States: A Report from the 2000 Census, published (October 2004) with the help of the National Black Justice Coalition. The second is Hispanic and Latino same-sex couple households in the United States: A Report from the 2000 Census (November 2005) co-authored by the National Latino/a Coalition for Justice. As you can see, both of the studies use data from the 2000 Census because it was the first year the government asked people to report whether they were living with a same-sex partner. Both of these reports also site similiar economic disparities between households with children run by women, specifically women of color and their straight counterparts.
As an African American married to a Latina, my hope is that Baby Godot, will be bi-racial. And with that in mind, I want our family to be recognized as an important part of the LGBT community, the African American community and the Latino community, not to mention the world at large.
Even though this new study represents a drop in the bucket compared to the research and attention needed by queer families and, particularly, queer families of color on a national level, the fact that it was conducted, published, and highlighted recently in the SF Chronicle warms my heart.
