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 study, 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 same-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 counterparts, 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 children 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 say 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.
However,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)