Filling out the Census

We got the 2010 Census form in the mail today. I decided to go ahead and fill it out and send it back in. I have an unusual affinity for filling out government documents and sending them in as quick as possible -- my taxes are always done by the first week of February.

I tingled in anticipation as I got to a certain question that listed my relationship to the owner of the house, my partner. We had planned to "gay bomb" the census. (I encourage all of my LGBT friends who live with their partners and consider themselves common law or officially married to do so)

And while our numbers won't be counted in the official tally of married couples, this will be the first census that recognizes us as a category of folks, according to CNN:

The 2010 census is the first that will report the numbers of same-sex couples who describe themselves as married, or more specifically, who use the terms husband and wife.

The number of same-sex couples who identify as married will be released separately from the national count on a state-by-state basis, according to Census Bureau reports.

Those couples will not be included in the official national count of married couples because the Census Bureau does not have time before April to change its editing processes -- which "recode" the answer of any person who says he or she is a spouse in a same-sex marriage to "unmarried partner."

So for now it's symbolic, but what a powerful symbol it'll be. I can't wait to see what the records in South Carolina indicate.