Asians and
Pacific Islanders in Same-Sex Couples in California Gary Gates (UCLA) and R. Bradley Sears
ABSTRACT
Using data from Census 2000, this report
provides demographic and socio-economic information about
Asians and Pacific Islanders in same-sex couples in
California. In this report, the category “API couples” means
couples where both members are Asian or Pacific Islander;
“inter-ethnic couples” means couples where only one member
is Asian or Pacific Islander; and “non-API couples”
indicates couples where neither member is Asian or Pacific
Islander.
ASIANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS IN SAME-SEX
COUPLES IN CALIFORNIA
In California, more than 13,000
Asian/Pacific Islanders identified themselves as living
with a same-sex partner in Census 2000. They constitute
over one-third of the 38,200 Asian/Pacific Islanders in
same-sex couples identified in the U.S., more than in any
other state.
Over seven percent of the individuals in
same-sex couples in California are Asian/Pacific Islander
and nearly one out of ten of California's same-sex couples
include at least one API individual (due to inter-ethnic
couples).
San Francisco County has the highest rate
of API same-sex couples (API householder) (2.2 per 1,000
households), while Los Angeles County has the largest
number of API same-sex couples (1,929).
Twenty-eight percent of California API
same-sex partners report Filipino heritage. Sizable
proportions of API same-sex partners are also of Chinese,
Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, Asian Indian, Cambodian, and
Taiwanese origin.
In California, API same-sex couples are
more likely to live in counties with high percentages of
Asian/Pacific Islanders in the population than in counties
with high percentages of samesex couples in the
population.
The demographic and socio-economic profile
of Asian/Pacific Islanders in same-sex couples is more
similar to Asian/Pacific Islanders in different-sex
couples than it is to non-APIs in same-sex couples. They
differ little from Asian/Pacific Islanders in
different-sex couples in terms of citizenship, military
service, income, education, rates of public assistance,
and rates of employment.
Compared with non-APIs in same-sex couples
in California, Asian/Pacific Islanders are less likely to
be employed (67% v. 71%) and to be U.S. citizens (73% v.
86%). In addition, they have annual individual incomes
that are more than $7,500 less than non-APIs in same-sex
couples.