The Williams Institute

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

We use the 2005/2006 American Community Survey (ACS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, to compare characteristics of 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 these data provide an excellent source of information about same-sex couples, it cannot provide information about the broader LGB population because it includes no explicit questions about sexual orientation.