This is interesting...comments?
Mike
Where Available, Most Same Sex Couples Not Interested in Marriage
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, JUNE 24, 2006 (Zenit.org <http://www.zenit.org>
).- After the clamor to legalize same-sex marriage, it turns out that
not many homosexuals really want it. Following a bitter battle last
year, the Spanish government gave homosexuals the right to marry. Since
the law took effect last July 3, until May 31, only 1,275 same-sex
marriages took place, reported the Madrid daily newspaper ABC last
Saturday.
Comparatively, that would add up to a mere 0.6% of the 209,125 marriages
contracted in Spain during 2005. Of the total number of same-sex
marriages, 923 were between males and 352 among females.
A recent study by the Virginia-based Institute for Marriage and Public
Policy did a roundup of same-sex marriage trends. The study, "Demand for
Same-Sex Marriage: Evidence from the United States, Canada and Europe,"
was published April 26.
So far the highest estimate of the proportion of homosexuals who have
used the new laws to marry is in the American state of Massachusetts,
with 16.7% tying the knot. But this seems to be an exception. In the
Netherlands, where same-sex marriage has been established the longest,
the percentage was far lower.
The authors of the study, Maggie Gallagher and Joshua Baker, warn that
it is often difficult to obtain precise data, either on the number of
same-sex marriages, or on the number of homosexuals in a given
geographical area.
The Dutch experience
In April 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legally
recognize marriages between two people of the same sex. From this date
till the end of last year, 8,127 same-sex couples married in the
Netherlands. Dutch survey data suggest that 2.8% of Dutch men and 1.4%
of Dutch women are homosexuals. Assuming all same-sex partners who
wedded in the Netherlands were residents, roughly 6.3% of homosexuals
married by year-end 2005. The percentage, both here and in the following
countries, includes all who were ever married, not necessarily the
number of current marriages.
Belgium, in June 2003, followed the Netherlands. During the rest of that
year, 1,708 same-sex couples married in Belgium. By year-end 2004 this
increased to 2,204 couples. The authors did not find official estimates
of the numbers of homosexuals in Belgium. If it were the same percentage
as in the Netherlands, then roughly 4.7% of Belgian homosexuals had
married by year-end 2004.
In Canada, the Ontario Court of Appeals led the way for same-sex
marriages in June 2003. Eventually, courts in various provinces followed
suit. Same-sex marriage was legalized at the national level last summer.
The law allows couples to marry without either of them being resident in
Canada. After checking newspaper reports and contacting statistics
offices, Gallagher and Baker confirmed that many of the same-sex
marriages are between non-Canadian couples, mostly from the United
States.
Gallagher and Baker were able to obtain data on same-sex marriage from
nine of Canada's 13 provinces. In British Columbia, 2,531 same-sex
marriages were contracted from July 2003 through year-end 2005. In
Quebec, same-sex marriages have been available since March 2004. Between
then and last September, 574 homosexual couples married.
The Canadian Community Health Survey conducted by Statistics Canada
first asked about sexual orientation in 2003. This resulted in 1.3% of
men and 0.7% of women aged 18 to 59 identifying themselves as
homosexuals. Of the seven provinces that have had same-sex marriage for
at least one year, between 0.15% and 14% of Canadian homosexuals entered
such marriages.
South of the border, in Massachusetts, same-sex marriage was introduced
on May 17, 2004. That year, 5,994 same-sex couples married. Recent
official data indicate that an additional 1,347 same-sex couples married
in Massachusetts last year, for a total of 7,341 such unions between May
2004 and December 2005.
According to the study, there are not reliable estimates of the
homosexual population in Massachusetts. Assuming the proportion is the
same as the national average (2.3% of men and 1.3% of women), and
assuming all the marriages are between local residents, 16.7% of
homosexuals entered into same-sex marriages.
The future
Information from newspaper reports and data collected by Gallagher and
Baker suggest that the number of same-sex marriages, after an initial
burst, appears to be decreasing with each passing year.
This is clearest in the Netherlands. In 2001, from April to December,
2,414 couples entered into same-sex marriages. In 2002, the number of
new same-sex marriages dropped to 1,838. By 2003 this decreased to
1,499. In 2004 there was a further fall, to 1,210. Recently released
statistics put the number for 2005 at 1,166 couples.
The data contained in Gallagher and Baker's study was supported by
Hudson Institute fellow Stanley Kurtz. Writing on June 5 in National
Review Online, he argued that statistics from Northern Europe confirm
the trend to low levels of same-sex unions.
Kurtz drew his information from a new study by a pair of Scandinavian
demographers, Gunnar Andersson and Turid Noack: "The Demographics of
Same-Sex Marriages in Norway and Sweden."
Scandinavian countries have had legally recognized same-sex unions for
many years, and for all intents and purposes there is little to
distinguish them from marriage. In Norway, from 1993 through 2001, only
1,293 same-sex partnerships were contracted, compared with 196,000
heterosexual marriages. In Sweden, 1,526 same-sex partnerships
registered between 1995 and 2002, compared with 280,000 heterosexual
marriages.