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Demographics of Gay and Lesbian Partnerships and Families

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International Handbook on Gender and Demographic Processes

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 8))

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Abstract

The field of sociology has long suffered from a lack of focus on issues of sexuality. With this history, it is perhaps to be expected that the field of demography would not yet have placed the demography of sexuality into its mainstream. While sexual orientation has been introduced into the field of demography, it was primarily through its connections to sexual behavior (rather than identity or desire) and, in turn, reproduction. It is noteworthy that so little demographic work has been done in the broad area of sexuality, given its tie to fertility outcomes. More recent research exploring demographics of sexuality shows that sexuality affects demographic outcomes well beyond specific studies estimating the odds of contracting sexually transmitted infections. Sexuality results in differential outcomes on a number of issues that are fundamental to population study, including migration, fertility, morbidity, and other areas. We believe it is important, therefore, for demographers to consider the effects of sexuality on demographic factors, as well as how sexuality intersects with other demographic characteristics – such as gender – to shape outcomes. This chapter explores the role of one aspect of sexuality, sexual orientation, on family demography outcomes. In particular, we examine demographics of partnered relationships and marriages, as well as demographics surrounding parenthood of LGBT-identified individuals and provide a foundation for integrating studies of gender and sexuality when considering family outcomes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Riley (1999) makes a similar observation regarding the surprising exclusion of feminist perspectives from demographic study, given the strong focus on reproductive behaviors in the field of demography.

  2. 2.

    There has also been a great deal of discussion and commentary surrounding the 2010 Census data estimates (see: Leff 2009; O’Connell and Lofuist 2009; O’Connell and Feliz 2011).

  3. 3.

    Two important differences to note regarding these data compared to the U.S. data are that the majority of same-sex partners in these countries are more likely to be male and also are more likely to involve a foreign-born partner compared to their different-sex counterparts.

  4. 4.

    243 individuals can be dropped because their indicated relationships are inconsistent with that of a parent/child relationship. These individuals appeared to fall outside the “child” category, either because (1) they were living as adults, as indicated by their assignment to the “head/householder” or “unmarried partner” relationship categories, or (2) their relationship to the householder was indicated as “housemates/roommates” or “roomers/boarders/lodgers,” suggesting a non-parental relationship.

  5. 5.

    Data sources included the 2008/2010 General Social Survey, the Gallup Daily Tracking Survey, Census 2010, and the Census’s American Community Survey, 2011.

  6. 6.

    We present the gamma coefficients in odds ratios form for each variable in our models. The odds ratio is calculated by exponentiating the coefficient (eb) while percent change is calculated (eb–1) * 100.

  7. 7.

    The NSFG does not ask a similar question of men.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology Department, The University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA

    D’Lane R. Compton

  2. Sociology Department, The University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Amanda K. Baumle

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  1. D’Lane R. Compton
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, USA

    Nancy E. Riley

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

    Jan Brunson

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Compton, D.R., Baumle, A.K. (2018). Demographics of Gay and Lesbian Partnerships and Families. In: Riley, N., Brunson, J. (eds) International Handbook on Gender and Demographic Processes. International Handbooks of Population, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1290-1_18

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