# Unexpected Same Sex Marriages in 1990 Census
**URL:** https://forum.ipums.org/t/unexpected-same-sex-marriages-in-1990-census/3011
**Category:** USA
**Created:** [June 18, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/unexpected-same-sex-marriages-in-1990-census/3011 "2019-06-18T17:10:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@watso220](https://forum.ipums.org/u/watso220)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/unexpected-same-sex-marriages-in-1990-census/3011/1 "2019-06-18T17:10:26Z")
Howdy,
I am forming Tax Units to run NBER TaxSim on, so I am grouping together married persons. I am using the 1990 Census 5%, so in this time period a married unit can only be a Husband + Wife (Man + Woman).
However, I can find instances where the SPLOC variable links two person with the same sex. Is this a coding mistake or an interpretation of the data by IPUMS? Or am I incorrect about the possibility of same sex marriage in 1990?
Examples:
serial==3986
Pernum==3: RELATED==1115; AGE==63; MARST==1, Woman==0, SPLOC==4
Pernum==4: RELATED==1115; AGE==63; MARST==1, Woman==0, SPLOC==3
serial==10495
Pernum==2: RELATED==1115; AGE==27; MARST==1, Woman==0, SPLOC==3
Pernum==3: RELATED==1115; AGE==58; MARST==1, Woman==0, SPLOC==2
serial==30256
Pernum==2: RELATED==301; AGE==17; MARST==1, Woman==0, SPLOC==3
Pernum==3: RELATED==301; AGE==16; MARST==1, Woman==0, SPLOC==2
serial==113223
Pernum==3: RELATED==301; AGE==19; MARST==1, Woman==1, SPLOC==5
Pernum==5: RELATED==401; AGE==19; MARST==1, Woman==1, SPLOC==3
Any thoughts?
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### Author:  [@JeffBloem](https://forum.ipums.org/u/JeffBloem)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/unexpected-same-sex-marriages-in-1990-census/3011/2 "2019-06-18T19:24:05Z")
You are correct that same-sex couples cannot be _consistently_ identified before the 2000 Census, however, same-sex couples can be _probabilisticly_ identified in the 1990 Census. Although this category was refined by the time of the 2000 Census, the 1990 Census is the first year that the “unmarried partner” category exists in the detailed codes of the [RELATE](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/RELATE#codes_section) variable. This allows for the probabilistic identification of same-sex couples in the 1990 5% sample. More information about this detail is [available on this page](https://usa.ipums.org/usa/chapter5/NewfamilyinterrelationshipvariablesinIPUMSUSA.shtml).