The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) Policy Institute and National Latino/a Coalition for Justice jointly released a report that concludes Hispanic same-sex couples in the U.S. face more economic strife than their white counterparts.

The report, entitled “Hispanic and Latino Same-Sex Couple Households in the United States: A Report from the 2000 Census,” documented 105,025 same-sex Hispanic households nationwide, representing approximately 18 percent of all same-sex couples in the nation.

“This report underscores so many injustices. It’s actually hard to catalogue them all,” NGLTF executive director Matt Foreman said. “… I could go on and on, but I think this report brings to light many injustices that we as LGBT people and we as the LGBT organized community need to face up to and address and be serious about.”

The study found that Hispanic women in same-sex couples serve in the military at a disproportionately high rate, despite the risk of losing their income and benefits because of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on openly gay, lesbian and bisexual service members. The rate was six times higher than Hispanic women married to men and six times the rate of all women nationwide (6 percent to 1 percent).

Same-sex Hispanic couples were more likely to be raising children under the age of 18 than white same-sex couples, according to the report. Male Hispanic same-sex couples are raising children at more than three times the rate of white same-sex couples (58 percent to 19 percent). Female Hispanic same-sex couples are raising children at more than twice the rate of white female couples (66 percent to 32 percent).

Another key finding showed households headed by Hispanic same-sex couples are at an income disadvantage compared to households headed by white same-sex couples. Data showed male Hispanic same-sex couples earned a median annual income of $21,000 less than that of white female same-sex couples, and $27,000 less than that of white male same-sex couples. Female Hispanic same-sex couples earned over $24,000 less in median annual income than their white counterparts, and over $30,000 less than white male same-sex couple households.

Gay rights opponents frequently cite a common stereotype that all same-sex couples are white, affluent and have no children, NGLTF said.

“One of the real challenges in the marriage equality struggle around the country is both combating the stereotypes about who comprises the gay community, particularly those [stereotypes] put out by our opponents, is that we’re all white and rich and privileged,” Forman said. “That’s one of the reasons why this report, and a report we did around African-American same-sex households, is so important to combat that stereotype. At the same time we’re fighting this very determined effort both by the religious right and the Republican Party to use marriage as a wedge issue in the African-American and the Latino/Hispanic communities.”

NGLTF Policy Institute research director Jason Cianciotto, the report’s author, discussed other findings during a conference call to kickoff the release of the report on Nov. 1. He noted there were limitations in terms of the data since the census does not count GLBT single people or individuals who are in same-sex couples who do not live together, among other variables.

Most Hispanic same-sex couples live in the same geographical areas as other Hispanic couples, the report found. Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange County had the largest same-sex Hispanic households, with 13,457. The New York/New Jersey metro area was second with 9,786, while the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area ranked third with 4,158 households. San Diego ranked ninth with 1,551 households.

Limited data on GLBT community and minority populations within the community has always been an issue that has made researching and drawing conclusions about these populations difficult, Cianciotto said.

“At the Policy Institute, one of our major objectives is to shed light – using quantitative data – on communities that are a part of the broader LGBT community, but about which we have little social-science research data,” he said. “We hope that now we have shed light on a community that has previously been invisible.”

The report profiles nine families headed by Hispanic same-sex couples, discussing their struggles and successes as a minority couple within a minority population.

Although not listed in the report, San Diego natives Teresa Oyos and Rose Ruybal have been together for 19 years. Oyos has volunteered for Bienestar and is currently involved with The Center’s Latino Services Program.

Oyos, 56, has an adult son and daughter in their 30s from a previous marriage. Most members of her family are supportive of her relationship with Ruybal, she said.

“I’ve been out to my family for years and so has she [Ruybal],” Oyos said. “By and large, our families have been very open.”

Although Oyos said she and her partner have not faced many challenges as a same-sex couple, she acknowledged that discrimination does still exist within the Latino culture.

“Some of the challenges have been because I was involved in the Chicano movement for many years before I came out,” Oyos said. “I think in traditional civil rights movements, sometimes the traditional people can be very closed-minded and homophobic still.”