Miami Herald - State's gay Hispanics face greater disparities

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/13078663.htm

Miami Herald
Posted on Sat, Nov. 05, 2005


SURVEY
State's gay Hispanics face greater disparities
BY STEVE ROTHAUS
srothaus@herald.com


R E L A T E D L I N K S
* Read the studies:
http://www.miami.com/multimedia/miami/news/rothaus.pdf


There are more than 100,000 Hispanic same-sex couples living in the United States, according to a study just released by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in New York.

Approximately 5 percent of these couples -- about 4,200 families -- live in South Florida, where more than a third of all same-sex couples are Hispanic, said study author Jason Cianciotto, a Task Force researcher who gleaned the information from U.S. Census surveys done in 2000.

Among the study highlights:

* Two-thirds of female same-sex couples in which both partners are Hispanic are raising children.

* Nearly half (44 percent) of the Hispanic men and women in same-sex relationships report that they are not U.S. citizens, compared to 5 percent of men and women in white non-Hispanic same-sex couples.

* Same-sex-couple households in which both partners are Hispanic earn more than $25,000 less in median annual household income than white non-Hispanic counterparts.

''We recognize that Hispanic families in general across this country face economic, language and immigration disparities, but these disparities are significantly compounded for gay and lesbian couples,'' said Matt Foreman, the Task Force's executive director.

``For example, no matter how long a Hispanic gay or lesbian couple lives together, one partner cannot sponsor the other for permanent residency status. If they were married, they could do so immediately.

'And in Florida, a gay or lesbian couple cannot adopt each others' children,'' Foreman said. Florida is the only state that asks adoption applicants if they are homosexual and bans gay people from adopting.

The study also highlights several similarities between same-sex and opposite-sex married Hispanic couples:

* Same-sex couples are nearly as likely as opposite-sex couples to report living in the same residence for the past five years (39 percent vs. 48 percent).

* Hispanic same-sex households primarily speak Spanish at home at nearly the same rate as opposite-sex married couples (77 vs. 81 percent).

* Hispanic same-sex couples are raising nonbiological children at almost the same rate as opposite-sex married couples (5 vs. 4 percent).

''This puts a face on a community that probably was ignored or considered nonexistent. . . . That's important for lawmakers, advertisers, for the community as a whole that we exist. This is who we are,'' said Herb Sosa, president of Unity Coalition of Miami-Dade, a gay civil-rights group that focuses on Hispanic issues. ``We knew all this stuff. It's nice that other people know it.''

Foreman and other Task Force members are in Miami Beach for tonight's 9th annual Recognition Dinner. This year's Humanitarian Award winner is Richard Milstein, a Miami attorney and civic activist. The Herald sponsors the award.