Mississippi. North Dakota. Idaho. Montana. Wyoming. That other Dakota.
They’re not exactly known as bastions of gay rights, but when it comes to raising children in a same-sex household, they’re home sweet home.
A fascinating new study by the Williams Institute, a national think tank at UCLA Law, finds that the states with the highest percent of gay households with children tend to be those with a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
The Top 10:
Mississippi — 26 percent!
Wyoming
Alaska
Idaho
Montana
Kansas
North Dakota
Arkansas
South Dakota
Oklahoma
When broken down by metro areas with a population of more than 1 million:
Salt Lake City, Utah — 26 percent
Virginia Beach, Va. — 24 percent
Detroit; Memphis, Tenn.; San Antonio — 22 percent
And when broken down by metro areas with a population of less than 1 million, the list becomes more surprising:
Grand Forks, N.D. — 65 percent
Bismarck, N.D. — 61 percent
Hinesville, Ga. — 46 percent
Laredo, Texas — 45 percent
Visalia, Calif. — 44 percent
When ranked with the states, D.C. has the lowest percentage of same-sex couples raising children. Only 8.7 percent of same-sex Washington couples are raising children, meaning the average gay couple in Mississippi is three-times more likely to be someone’s moms or dads than a gay couple here.
“Research consistently shows that same-sex couples raise children all across the country,” said Williams Institute public policy research fellow, Angeliki Kastanis. “This analysis underscores the fact that recognition of LGBT families is a consequential policy question in every state.”
