Perth our new hotspot: Hyde

The Western Australian electorate of Perth has emerged as the pinkest electorate in the state, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows. Perth MLA John Hyde, the first openly gay MLA in any Australian parliament, said that the 2001 census showed that 336 same-sex couples lived in Perth, 228 of whom were male couples and 108 of whom were female couples.

As the census question regarding de facto couples was not gender-specific, it’s fair to argue that there is a large under-reporting of actual same-sex couples, Hyde said. He predicted a big jump in the number of same-sex couples identified in the next national census, due to be conducted in 2006. The data concerning the electorates of Maylands, Victoria Park, Yokine and Belmont also revealed significant numbers of same-sex couple residents, Hyde said.