In April 2004, the Maine Legislature passed a bill to establish Domestic Partnerships, providing many important rights akin to marriage for same-sex couples in that state. The law came into effect on July 30, 2004, putting Maine in the category of states that offer some legal recognition of same-sex relationships, but not marriage. In 2000, the federal census counted 37,881 unmarried-couple households in Maine; of these, 8.95%, or 3,394, were same-sex couples (44% male, 56% female). In contrast, the same census showed 272,152 married couples in the state. Total state population was 1,274,923.