More Reporting by Gay Couples --or More Gay Couples???

By KARAMAGI RUJUMBA
BLADE STAFF WRITER

Not only are Ohioans increasingly identifying their same-sex relationship status, but so are gay, lesbian, and bisexual couples in the Midwest and other parts of the country, according to a study by the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the University of California at Los Angeles' school of law.

The study says Ohio had a 62 percent growth in the number of people who said they were in same-sex relationships between 2000 and 2005, from 18,937 couples in the 2000 census to 30,669 couples in last year's American Community Survey. Michigan had a 48 percent increase from 15,368 in 2000 to 22,701 in 2005.

And the number of the nation's same-sex couples grew by more than 30 percent from nearly 600,000 couples in 2000 to almost 777,000 in 2005, said Gary Gates, a senior research fellow at the institute. His study, "Same Sex Couples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Population: New Estimates from the American Community Survey," is based on an analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey and the 2000 population census.

But unlike an official Census count, its community survey is based on a sampling of households and does not count people in "group quarters" - college students, inmates, and patients in long-term care facilities.____________________________________________

The article goes on to say that couples are "coming out" because of a reduction of stigma --but also as a means of rebutting the ban on gay marriage --(which would seem to be MORE stigma, not less.)

Are more people "coming out" as the article asserts --or are more participating in homosexual co-habitation? I suspect it's both. The article doesn't mention if the report tells the ages of the individuals or how long these couples have been together. That would be interesting.

Even the first gay couple who "married" in Mass. stated they didn't think marriage meant monogamy in their case. So what's it all about? Family Research Institute finds that gay couples are usually not stable. Not that hetero relationships are doing so well. However, heteros don't tend to stay together if infidelity occurs; gay relationships may actually have more tolerance for promiscuity --since that's the nature of the culture for the men, especially. Not that the high profile lesbians are doing any better than their hetero counterparts in Hollywood. If Rosie O Donnel, the "queen of mean," gets any more nasty or manly, one wonders if her "wife" will stay around much longer.

I find the stats alarming, but not surprising. We are repeating the sins of Sodom and Gommorrah. The Bible is clear. God has spoken. He said he vomited the pagans out of the land because of their sexual sins and forbade the Jews, His people, to commit such sins. God created female for male, in HIS image --to become one flesh. Jesus said a man should leave his parents and cleave to his wife. And St. Paul was very clear that homosexuality was displeasing to God (Romans 1:18-32).

There is also a bible verse that says some Christians were "once homosexuals" --and others did other sins --but are doing so no more --suggesting that people can stop being homosexuals.

I'll have to pull up the Bible references --later.