The number of same-sex couple households in the US has surpassed 1 million for the first time, according to recently released government data.
there was more than 1.2 million same-sex couple households nationwide in 2021, up from 540,000 in 2008, an increase of 120%showed the data, taken from the Census Bureau’s Annual American Community Survey.
About 710,000 (59.2%) of same-sex couple households were married and about 500,000 (41.7%) were unmarried.
The number of married same-sex households began to overtake single same-sex households in 2016, following the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges of the 2015 Supreme Court, which effectively legalized gay marriage in the US.
The release of these new data coincides with the advancement of landmark legislation codifying federal protection for same-sex marriages. The Respect Marriage Act passed the Senate 61-36 and now returns to the House for a final vote before it can go to President Joe Biden, who has said he hopes to sign it into law.
Hawaii has the highest percentage of same-sex couple households of any state, at 1.4%, followed by Oregon and Delaware, both at 1.3%, according to Census Bureau data. The District of Columbia, however, tops them all with 2.5%.
South Dakota has the lowest percentage of same-sex couple households of any state at 0.4%, followed by Kansas, Mississippi, Idaho, North Dakota, and Montana at 0.5%.