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ART HUGHES: When Sean Kershaw and Tim Hawkins adopted their son, Aidan, Kershaw says neighbors brought the usual baby gifts and clothes. And no one seemed at all concerned that Aidan has two fathers. Kershaw, a planner with the city of St. Paul, says that kind of basic support makes Minnesota a welcome place for gay relationships.

SEAN KERSHAW: In a state like Minnesota, it's really easy to be a couple. I mean, it's a safe state. There are laws that protect you from discrimination. So I think they certainly exist in every state. But this is an easier state to be gay and quite frankly.

ART HUGHES: The 2000 census reports more than 18,000 Minnesotans living together in a gay or lesbian relationship. That's nearly 1% of all couples in the state, married or otherwise. Last year was the first time the Census Bureau counted same-sex couples.

In 1990, gay and lesbian couples listed their relationship status on the census form in a variety of ways, including married since same-sex marriages aren't recognized legally. The Census Bureau ended up reclassifying those in several categories, such as roommates or even relatives, none of which accurately reflects reality. Kershaw believes and census officials generally agree the latest numbers are probably low because some gay couples still fear a backlash.

SEAN KERSHAW: We're here. We're queer. We've been enumerated as not sexy or exciting. And I think there's some hesitancy on people to see-- for people to see those numbers. But on the other hand, I think people are excited to have reality validated to say, we're a presence. We've been here all along. We're probably growing in numbers. And we'll be able to track that now.

ART HUGHES: Deborah Talan is the Director of Rainbow Families, a nonprofit that facilitates adoptions and provides support for same-sex parents. She says Minnesota is supportive of gays and lesbians. But barriers remain both legally and perceptually.

DEBORAH TALAN: The fact that we can't get legally married means that we have to adopt as a single person. Even if you go into the adoption agency and say, we're a couple, we've gone through a ceremony, we've been together 15 years, we have all legal paperwork with each other, you're still in the law, a single person. Singles are limited in what kind of adoptions they can have.

ART HUGHES: Talan says her organization's first conference six years ago had an attendance of 100 parents and 50 kids. More than 1,000 people attended that same conference this year. Talan says the fact that the census now counts same-sex partners reflects an attitude that gays and lesbians are considered more mainstream than in the past.

More than half of the state's gay couples live in the Twin Cities, with the largest number, almost 4,000, living in Hennepin County. Still, gay households make up less than 1% of all households in the county. Slightly more females than males reported having same-sex partners.

The number of both same sex and opposite sex unmarried partners took a large leap from 10 years ago. In 1990, the census measured 60,000 unmarried couples. Last year, the agency counted 100,000, a 67% increase. Minnesota State Demographer Tom Gillespie says the numbers are an important measurement of who we are and can help shape vital public policy issues.

TOM GILLESPIE: One of the big policy questions of this last decade had to do with things like health insurance in unmarried partner households, visitation rights in hospitals if one of the partners became seriously ill, and a variety of similar kinds of issues that we really didn't have very good data on, frankly.

ART HUGHES: The least number of same-sex partners in Minnesota is measured in Kittson County, which has a single couple. Lincoln has two same-sex households. Traverse and Red Lake counties each have three. Art Hughes, Minnesota Public Radio.