It's official, the census says: Gay male couples like San Francisco. Lesbians like the Berkshires.
Gay male couples tend to gravitate toward cities, while lesbian couples tend to prefer smaller, more pastoral cities or towns, according to 2020 census figures.
Gay male couples tend to gravitate toward big cities on the U.S. coasts, while lesbian couples tend to prefer smaller, more pastoral cities or towns, according to 2020 census figures that reinforce some preconceived notions about LGBTQ communities in the U.S.
Counties with the highest concentrations of male same-sex couple households were those that include San Francisco, Manhattan, Boston and Washington, D.C., according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released last week.
Some of the highest concentrations of female same-sex couple households were in Hampshire and Franklin counties in the Berkshires, a rural region of western Massachusetts that is home to several colleges, art museums and theaters. Also in the count were counties that are home to Portland, Oregon; Asheville, North Carolina; and Ithaca, New York, where Cornell University and Ithaca College are located.
The locations aren’t entirely surprising, since they fall in line with cultural stereotypes of gay men being urban creatures and lesbian women being outdoorsy, said Crissi Dalfonzo, director of the Center for LGBT Education, Outreach and Services at Ithaca College.
“Stereotypes often exist for a reason, but they can be problematic because they can take away the individuality,” Dalfonzo said.
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