
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 13, 1990                   TAG: 9003133385
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MORE DATA ON GAYS LIKELY

Since its beginning, the gay-rights movement has held as a central tenet that there are millions more gay men and lesbians in every corner of American society than is commonly believed.

Proving this, however, has been difficult because of the virtual absence of reliable data on sexual behavior.

Now there is new data on the horizon and it will come from the census.

While census-takers will ask no direct question on sexual preference, the census forms for the first time will include a place for couples living together to designate themselves as "unmarried partners."

Matching that information with the gender of respondents, the census will be able to calculate the number of gay couples in the United States - the first real acknowledgment by the federal government, according to gay-rights groups, that the definition of the U.S. family is beginning to change.

But if this development pleases gay activists, the possibility that the new information will be misleading and susceptible to misuse worries them.

And, because anti-sodomy laws still exist in 25 states and the District of Columbia, many gay couples may be reluctant to identify themselves.

In interviews last week, several gay-rights advocates said the federal government has done little to educate homosexuals about how to answer the census properly, nor has it given adequate assurances about the confidentiality of questionnaires.

"We believe that whatever happens with this question, there will be an undercount," said Urvashi Vaid, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

In a last ditch effort to urge gay couples to answer honestly, Vaid's organization is running its own campaign, offering assurances that census responses will remain confidential. There is a toll-free telephone number for people who are confused about how to properly answer the questionnaire, officials said.

More than 40 years ago, Alfred C. Kinsey concluded that 10 percent of males were more or less exclusively homosexual for at least three years between the ages of 16 and 55.

Among women, the figure ranged from 1 to 6 percent between the ages of 20 and 35.

More recent studies reported lower figures, ranging from 2 to 6 percent.

by CNB