Check out this article about the significant growth among same-sex couples in North Carolina, according to U.S. Census figures released today. CSE volunteers Kathryn Cartledge and Elizabeth Eve were interviewed along with Executive Director Jasmine Beach-Ferrara. According to the Associated Press:
“[s]ince the last national count in 2000, same-sex domestic partners in North Carolina jumped 11,052, or 68 percent, to 27,250 . . . Much of the growth, however, was concentrated in western North Carolina and along the coast. In Buncombe County, where Eve and Cartledge live, same-sex domestic partners jumped 739 or nearly 110 percent. In neighboring Transylvania and Polk counties, the same-sex couple population doubled.” These trends, which focus only on couples, also draw attention to the data that still needs to be captured: population estimates for total LGBT individuals.
This story highlights that LGBT people live in every community in North Carolina, putting a very human face on the harm that would be caused by the proposed anti-gay amendment to our State Constitution.
