The gay numbers crunchers at the Williams Institute assembled this infographic that makes a surprising point: Metro areas with the highest percentage of gay couples raising kids are in states with constitutional bans on marriage. Hello, Hinesville, Ga.

The small city about 40 miles southwest of Savannah has the third highest percentage of same-sex couples raising children — 46% — among metro areas in the U.S. with a population less than 1 million people. In Georgia, 19.6% of same-sex couples are raising children. Lots of those are lesbians.

And Georgia, thanks to a bruising fight in 2004, is one of more than two-dozen states with a constitutional ban on gay marriage. It's also a state with more than 21,000 same-sex households; Atlanta is fifth among big cities for its percentage of same-sex couples per 1,000 households (19.75%).

“Research consistently shows that same-sex couples raise children all across the country,” says Angeliki Kastanis, a public policy research fellow at the Williams Institute. “This analysis underscores the fact that recognition of LGBT families is a consequential policy question in every state.”

Which sate has the highest percentage of same-sex couples raising kids? Mississippi at 26 percent. Of course gay marriage is illegal there.

[infographic via]