The Williams Institute

This report provides a general overview of Black individuals in same-sex couples as well as the broader Black lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) population in California.

We use data from the 2005/2006 American Community Survey (ACS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, to compare the characteristics of Black people in same-sex couples to their different-sex married counterparts. In all cases, when this report describes characteristics of couples, the data source is the ACS. While the ACS provides an excellent source of information about those in same-sex couples, it cannot provide information about the larger Black LGB population since it includes no explicit question about sexual orientation.