A new infographic from the industrious demographers at UCLA’s Williams Institute shows that the states and metro areas with the highest percentages of same-sex couples raising children are ones that have a constitutional ban on marriage.
Among metro areas with a population above one million, Salt Lake City, Utah tops the list. Among those under one million, Grand Forks, North Dakota leads the way (with a whopping 65 percent). Among states as a whole, the leaders are Mississippi, Wyoming, Alaska, Idaho, and Montana.
This just goes to show that we really are everywhere, and that even if we gain federal recognition of our marriages, anti-LGBT state laws will continue to harm our families. It’s not just marriage, either: Of the top states on the graphic below, Michigan, Mississippi, and Utah still restrict joint adoption by same-sex couples; Utah restricts second-parent adoptions. None of them (except California) have employment non-discrimination laws covering sexual orientation or gender identity. (See the Movement Advancement Project’s Equality Maps.)
Whatever state you live in, please join LGBT families and allies on Monday, June 3, for the 8th Annual Blogging for LGBT Families Day.
