WASHINGTON — The Census Bureau reports there are 131,729 same-sex couples in the U.S. who say they're married — the first-ever government count of this kind.
The 2010 results show that about 20 percent of the estimated 646,464 gay couples in the country checked off "husband" or "wife" boxes on their census forms.
The census tally of gay married couples is higher than the actual number of legal marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships in the U.S. Gay marriage is now legal in six states and the District of Columbia, and one Census Bureau consultant put the number of legally recognized partnerships at 100,000.
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