I'm a liberal pagan living in West, Texas. Yes. That West, Texas.

Monday, October 16, 2006

TEXAS RANKS HIGH IN GAYS WITH KIDS








Study: State is 7th in percentage of couples raising children.
Houston..Despite Texas'conservative reputation, gay couples living here are more likely to have children than in almost any other place in the country, according to a study published in The Gay and Lesbian Atlas.
The stu
dy, based on the most recent U.S. census data and first published in 2004, found that San Antonio has the highest percentage of gay couples raising children in the nation.Houston is fourth, and the Fort Worth-Arlington area is fifth.
As a state, Texas ranked seventh.(holy shit..be still my heart)
The study looked at children who are being raised by at least one biological parent, as well as children who were adopted by sa
me-sex couples.
The
study found that minority same-sex couples are more likely to have children, and Texas' large Hispanic population could partially explain why Texas has so many gay and lesbian couples raising children, said Gary J. Gates, who co-authored the Atlas study.
Another possible explanation is that compared with their hetrosexual co
unterparts, gay and lesbian couples tend to be "urban pioneers," he said.They are more likely to live in racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods that have more college-educated residents,older housing, higher crime rates or higher property values,accoring to the census research.
Nationally, about 25 percent of gay couples have children living in their homes.And generally, same-sex couples and their children live in areas where other people also have kids, Mr. Gates said.
The c
hildren of gay couples consist of two groups:those born from a parent's preious hetero-sexual relationship and those who were adopted or whose parents started families through reproduction technology, such as artificial insemination.
Experts s
ay there have been other "gayby booms"in the last 25 years. The first came in the 1980's when lesbian couples took advantage of new reproductive technology to have children.The second came during the 1990's, when gay men began to adopt, said Beth Teper, executive director of the San Francisco-based organization Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere.
Mitchell Katine, a lawyer who helped overturn the state's sodomy law, said there is a clear difference between the state
's conservative politics and its more liberal social practices.
Howev
er,there are still social obstacles facing gay couples planning to adopt, Mr.Katine said.
Many gay couples avoid going through the
more conservative courts of Harris Country for adoptions, Mr. Katine said.He went through a San Antonio judge to adopt his two children.

NUMBERS PUT CITIES ON GAY AND LESBIAN ATLAS.

Texas is third in states with the most same-sex households.
Houston's Montrose neighborhood is 10th among urban areas in the number of same-sex households.
Dallas'Oak Lawn area ranks eight among neighborhoods with the highest concentration of gay male couples.
Among all households, not just same-sex couples, Texas ranks sixth in the highest concentration of same-sex couples with children.
Houston is fifth among big cities with high concentrations of same-sex couples with children; Austin-San Marcos is seventh among all households with children: and San Antonio is first among same-sex households with children.
Texas ranks 3rd in the concentration of Hispanic same-sex couples and second when only Hispanic same-sex couples are considered..


Texas.....I salute you....heehaw...

copied from Dallas Morning News...(associated press)

23 comments:

Lauren said...

Great article JS! I'm guessing that won't sit well with Gump and his right-wing Christian followers.

The number of openly Gay families in MI has risen steadily in the last few years. I'll have to see if I can find the numbers. I know I saw a similar study a while back.

Nit Wit said...

Don't have to worry about Gump, he doesn't read the papers. Someone is sure to start a campaign to pass some new hate laws because of the study though.
I would have thought that Texas would rank 2nd behind California in Hispanic same sex couples.
Your posts are going all over the place right now. I wonder what will be next.

Unknown said...

`Yea Texas!
Jackie Sue, that free scan & repair link is
HERE

Hope this one works

Allan said...

Even Texas is more progressive than my home state...good job!

yellowdoggranny said...

lauren:I dont know how it happened either, except that they are low key about it..and who would have thought a mexican catholic town like san antonio would be so progressive...i would have thought austin would have been in there...as it is not like texas at all except for the music.
nit wit: only the shadow knows what lurks in the hearts of man...I am working on 1995, plus I have a few other irons in the fire...like to keep you guys on your toes...
junebugg: will do it tonight as they ususally take forever..thanks so much again..we'll kill this zombie yet..
mimi: bush was so busy depleating our rescources and fouling up the rivers, creeks and the skies to worry about who was doing who...bastid..
allan:no one was more surprised than me...really!

Ol' Lady said...

I won't even try to comment

Anonymous said...

Good for Texas. I guess people should start changing their stereotypes of Texas. I have been in so many loving homes of same sex parents that I know how good the situations are for the children.

:P fuzzbox said...

It's that damn Brokeback Mountain, I tell you. Oh well, it takes all kinds.

Anonymous said...

man, i'm still trying to adjust to the fact there are gay republicans. now you tell me there are gay texans!

i might just climb back on the turnip truck.

Josh said...

Wow. I'm beside myself. I'd never have thunk it.

Anonymous said...

ya-hooooooo!

i knew there was a damn good reason i wanted to move back to texas ... and DFW is my second choice (austin is my first, of course).

now if the other half will just hurry up and graduate and apply to seminary i'll know if i'm coming home or destined to be another texas ex-pat forever. ;)

kayakdave said...

So Anon,
If your having so damn much fun and making so much money why are you wasting time telling us about it?

yellowdoggranny said...

ol'lady: sorry..can't please everyone..
jan: most of us here know kevin(bright yellow gun) who with his parter have adopted 4 kids..brothers and sisters..kids that had a horrible life until kevin and his partner adopted them...they have given them love, stability,a home,security,comfort,warmth,
humor and everything 4 kids who have suffered like they had needs...they are terrific parents...and the kids are lucky to have them..and think kevin and his partner are lucky to have the kids..so we know first hand how important it is to give kids a good home...which is what they have done.
fuzz: yup thank the goddess it does take all kinds..cause all kinds are needed.
ruby rocks: isnt that the truth...
josh: yup..who woulda thunk it.
ender: i am really proud of texas on this one..
babs: aint it grand
kayakdave:yup.if they didnt find what they were looking for..how come they came back a second and third time..going to have to stop the anonymous comments.
bluebeerriver:heehee...

Nit Wit said...

Maybe the Gump heard about this. I read the canidates in Crawford Texas hav been dumped by the national Republican party.
No more money. I wonder what Rove's October suprise is?

Anonymous said...

In Jesusistan, that which doesn't fit the mold is either ignored, lied about, or chased away.

Don't expect this to get a lot of airtime in Texas, in other words.

pissed off patricia said...

Well good for Texas. 'bout time we heard this kind of good news. Fla forbids gays from adoption. Sadly I doubt that will change any time soon.

texlahoma said...

YDG, will your computer allow you to watch You Tube videos? If so I have two that you might like.

Anonymous said...

tom:they are to busy scaring us with t'rist..plus they have enough problems with pedophiles, adulters,thieves and assholes to worry about some gays and
lesbians adopting kids..
nitwit: something else i noticed that didnt make the news or if it did it was so low key most people missed it.the train derailment right in crawford that had the town evacuated for a few hours..was over a month ago..did anyone hear about it?
jolly roger:actually i got this article from the Dallas morning news..surpirse surprise..
pissed off patricia:yea, i was thinking of sending the article to rose on the view and see if she would mention it..
bbr:no it hates youtube..can never get it to work...fuck

BriteYellowGun said...

And here I thought West, TX would have outranked ALL of those other podunk towns!

Whodda thunk? I can't say that this will have us moving to Texas anytime in the near future but it's nice to know that there are so many others out there like us.

Regarding what you wrote about me and my partner...awww shucks! I'm blushing!

Anonymous said...

Excellent! Something to definitely be proud of .. :)

Anonymous said...

The population of Texas is also growing faster than the other large states, which puts more people from different walks of life into the same area. Interesting article. It says that Texas has a conservative reputation, which no doubt it does. But New York is known as a liberal state, and I always laugh at that because Pataki got elected twice, Giuliani got elected twice and Koch, who may be a democrat, but is hardly liberal, got elected three or four times before they changed the laws.

yellowdoggranny said...

anonymous up there is me..fucking blogger.
byg: i know of one lesbian couple and of course our brokeback cowboys merle and t.j. we have a population of less than 3,000 so that is not too bad..and i only spoke the truth about you..any kid would be lucky to have you two for parents...you can adopt my 3..
sue: well we still have a long way to go..but this is something nice to have to brag on..
cyberoutlaw:i always thought west was a republican town..but henrietta assures me we are mostly dems...hm...i will have to check that out..

Anonymous said...

Goddess bless Texas! :)