Census Data Reveals Same-Sex Couples Among Fastest-Growing Demographics in NC

According to a recent report by the Associated Press, much of this growth was concentrated in western North Carolina and along the coast. In Buncombe County, same-sex domestic partners jumped 739 or nearly 110 percent. In neighboring Transylvania and Polk counties, the same-sex couple population doubled. The state's largest county, Mecklenburg, had the most same-sex domestic partners with 3,221, while Brunswick and Dare counties on the coast saw big increases.

According to the AP article, "since the last national count in 2000, the overall population in North Carolina jumped nearly 1.5 million, or 18 percent, to more than 9.5 million people. That makes North Carolina one of the fastest growing states and the 10th-most populous. During the same period, households headed by married couples no longer make up a majority of households in the state, mirroring a national trend."

Click here to see the full Associated Press report.

While many are attributing the meteoric rise in the number of same-sex couples in North Carolina to the state's national reputation for being a friendly place for the LGBT community, a proposed anti-LGBT constitutional amendment, likely to be heard in a September special session at the North Carolina General Assembly, could change all of that. Even though North Carolina remains the only Southeastern state that has yet to approve an amendment restricting marriage to one man and one woman, with polls currently indicating the majority of state citizens in support of legal relationship recognition for same-sex couples, a conservative legislature threatens to place the provision on the 2012 ballot.

"North Carolina has traditionally be seen as one of the best states in the nation to live, work, raise a family and start a business, based in large part on our state's focus on freedoms and fairness for all citizens. One of the dangers with the proposed amendment is not only that it would prevent fair-minded people and businesses from seeing North Carolina as a welcoming place to relocate, and these new figures clearly show this type of discriminatory legislation would have an even greater negative impact among our current population," said Alex Miller, Equality NC's interim executive director. "Legislators need to be aware that the proposed anti-LGBT amendment will affect a larger percentage of our citizens than was previously understood, and that the friends, neighbors and co-workers of these couples will be unwilling to support a measure that enshrines discrimination against them into our state's constitution."

Click here for more information about NC's proposed anti-LGBT constitutional amendment.