The US government is revising its race and ethnicity categories for the first time in 27 years, allowing respondents to select multiple categories and adding a Middle Eastern and North African category. The changes aim to more accurately count residents who identify as Hispanic and of Middle Eastern and North African heritage. The revisions also remove pejorative terms and encourage detailed data collection. While some see the changes as meaningful representation, others, such as Afro Latinos, express concerns about potential reduction in their numbers and representation in the data.
Thai lawmakers have passed four draft bills on same-sex marriage in their first reading, bringing Thailand closer to legalizing same-sex marriage. The country, known for having one of Asia's most open and visible LGBTQ+ communities, still has laws and institutions that discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals and same-sex couples. The draft legislation received overwhelming support, with all but 11 of the 380 lawmakers present voting in favor. The bills will now be merged into one and further debated and voted on next year. If enacted, Thailand would become the third country in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to recognize same-sex marriage.
A meta-analysis examining correlations between human mating partners reveals that people tend to form partnerships with others who are similar to themselves, with education, social attitudes, and substance use showing the highest correlations. The study suggests that these correlations may have cultural contingencies and highlights the importance of studying partner correlations across a wide variety of traits.
