Researchers from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law have found that Salt Lake City, Utah has the highest rate of gay parents nationwide, contrary to the public perception that New York City and San Francisco are the "meccas for gay families," according to the Los Angeles Times.
The researchers estimate that Salt Lake City and its surrounding suburbs have the highest rates of gay and lesbian parents raising children, about 1 in 4 according to the analysis of census data.
Gary J. Gates, the researcher behind the new estimates, told the Times that the reality for gay parents is very different from what pop culture might have you think; gays and lesbians turning to adoption, sperms banks and surrogacy in "decidedly liberal cities" such as Los Angeles does not necessarily match the reality of most homosexual parenting couples.
"A big chunk of [gay parents] are people who had children young, with opposite-sex partners, before they came out," said Gates, who explained that these people often raised the children with a partner afterwards, as opposed to seeking out children after getting together with their partner.
Gates also said that this may be one of the reasons that "a striking percentage of same-sex couples are rearing children" in more conservative areas of the U.S. His analysis of census data found that Mississippi, for instance, has the highest percentage of gay couples raising kids at about 26 percent.
The data also showed that the actual number of gay couples raising children in Salt Lake City is still smaller than in large hubs such as New York and L.A., despite Salt Lake City having the highest percentage. Other large urban areas with large percentages of gay parents include Virginia Beach, Va., Detroit, Mich. and Memphis, Tenn. - "all places where more than a fifth of couples of the same sex are bringing up kids."
Gay couples choose Salt Lake City to raise kids for the same reasons as straight couples, including proximity to relatives, close community ties and affordable cost of living.
"When you ask, 'Why are you living here?' they almost always say family," said Abbie Goldberg, an associate professor of psychology at Clark University. "It shouldn't really be surprising. They value family - and now they're creating families of their own."
