# how many gay marriages have there been in the US? Elsewhere? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499 "2006-06-05T17:04:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/1 "2006-06-05T17:04:38Z")
How many gay marriages have there been in the US? Have there been many in other nations? I’d be interested in knowing the numbers for marriages or “marriage by another name” if it is under a law that requires the couple to go to court to separate property or child support/visitation rights for a divorce (I guess this is the one of the better definitions for determining the level of gravity of an “equivalency” to marriage). Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/2 "2006-06-28T12:59:27Z")
Anybody? How many gay divorces have there been? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/3 "2006-06-28T13:18:53Z")
I can’t find a cite quickly, but I recall news stories that there have been about 3000 in Massachusetts so far. That includes some pent-up demand that led to an initial rush, of course, so don’t extrapolate that too far. There have been some stories about divorces already, too, and some court issues arising about other states’ ability to end Vermont “civil unions” (what would that be, a “civil divorce”)? [More info on your second question](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025164/). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/4 "2006-06-28T13:22:23Z")
Here’s a news article from Italy - don’t know anything about the source, though, so can’t comment on its accuracy: [Same-sex marriage flounders](http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=91500). ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/5 "2006-06-28T14:44:24Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > [Same-sex marriage flounders](http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=91500). See, I **told** you it would least to bestiality :mad: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/6 "2006-06-28T17:49:21Z")
[Lots of numbers here.](http://www.marriagedebate.com/pdf/imapp.demandforssm.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/7 "2006-06-28T23:44:16Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > Here’s a news article from Italy - don’t know anything about the source, though, so can’t comment on its accuracy: [Same-sex marriage flounders](http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=91500). That article is floating around, being reprinted in various right-wing & religious fundamentalist publications & websites. Given the loaded terms in the article, and the referances only to anti-marriage ‘research’ groups, and the basic fact that this is from a Catholic Church news agency (“The World seen from Rome”), I doubt that scientific accuracy is their major goal. The _Advocate_ magazine had a recent issue covering gay marriages (and divorces); you can probably find a copy in your local library. That is from a gay news magazine, so it’s likely to be a pro-marriage article. But it had quite a bit of basic numbers coverage.) ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/8 "2006-06-29T01:00:27Z")
Recognized by the Federal Government? I would guess, none. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/9 "2006-06-29T01:13:03Z")
No one asked that. ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/10 "2006-06-29T01:14:09Z")
Well, I still stated it. Because technically there have been none. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/11 "2006-06-29T01:28:08Z")
From the article: > [@](#): > > 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… Assuming the proportion is the same as the [US] national average (2.3% of men and 1.3% of women) Wimpy psuedo-French effete Canadians are half as likely to be homosexual then us manly testosterone pumped Americans? Do gay people have a particular dislike of the cold or something? Any idea what the reason for the disparity is? That said, the the article seems to be reporting statistics collected by the states and countries where gay marriage is legal, I don’t think that they’re giving false numbers. And in anycase, some of thier assumptions appear likely to increase their count of gay couples tying the knot (for example: assuming all gay marriages in Mass. are domestic couples). Not really suprising though, gay marriage is only a few years old in most (all?) of the places mentioned. That gays aren’t willing to instantly sign up for an institution that (in theory) involves a lifelong commitment and is relatively untested doesn’t strike me as wildley bizzare. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/12 "2006-06-29T21:42:33Z")
CEM (Canadians for Equal Marriage) recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the federal government voting to make same-sex marriage legal. Actually, it has been legal longer than that, since the courts in most of the provinces of Canada struck down the straights-only marriage law that existed before, starting with Ontario on June 10, 2003, and ordered marriage licence offices to issue licences to same-sex couples in that province. So you might say it has been legal in at least part of Canada for three years and legal in all of Canada for one year. To date, an estimated 10,136 same-sex couples have gotten married in Canada. There are no reports of any discernible harm being done to the Canadian family or to straight marriage. And tomorrow, June 30, two male members of the RCMP are going to don their red tunics and get married. The Mounted Police administration fully accepts and approves of this, and said it shows that their force refelects the full diversity of Canadian society. I understand that their fellow mounties will form an honour guard in uniform. And the first one of you Dopers who makes a joke about “Brokeback Mounties” gets bitch-slapped, Mary! We have heard that joke ad infinitum! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/13 "2006-06-30T05:13:17Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > So you might say it has been legal in at least part of Canada for three years and legal in all of Canada for one year. Except the [Civil Marriage Act](http://www.parl.gc.ca/38/1/parlbus/chambus/house/bills/government/C-38/C-38_4/C-38_cover-E.html) didn’t get royal assent until July 20, 2005, after passage by the Senate, so same-sex marriage hasn’t yet been legal throughout Canada for a year - that anniversary comes up next month. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/14 "2006-06-30T05:26:23Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > And the first one of you Dopers who makes a joke about “Brokeback Mounties” gets bitch-slapped, Mary! We have heard that joke ad infinitum! Can we make one about “the Mounties always get their man”? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/15 "2006-06-30T13:34:14Z")
Huhuhuhuh. You said “Mount”. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/16 "2006-06-30T16:55:41Z")
UK figures: some 6,500 civil partnerships (marriage by another name) since it became legal in December 05: > **[BBC NEWS | UK | England | 6,500 gay couples are 'married'](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/5109586.stm)** > > More than 6,500 gay couples 'marry' in the four months after civil partnership laws are brought in. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/17 "2006-06-30T19:10:36Z")
> [@diggleblop](#): > > Well, I still stated it. Because technically there have been none. Depends on how one defines these things. In a couple of states (Texas and Kansas if memory serves) people of the same gender and genital sex have legally married. This was made possible because of court rulings in those states stating that (simplified) chromosomes at birth determines sex for life. In each state, ostensibly mixed-sex marriages have been voided because one of the spouses was transgender. The rulings created a loophole allowing couples now of the same sex to marry as long as they didn’t start out life as the same physical sex. To my knowledge, no such marriage has been held by any state or federal body to be void. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/18 "2006-06-30T20:27:14Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Huhuhuhuh. You said “Mount”. How about, “The Gettys always mount their man”. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/19 "2006-07-01T00:41:50Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Can we make one about “the Mounties always get their man”? You can certainly make that joke if you like, but you might be interested to know that “We get our man” is NOT the motto of the Mounties and never has been. Check out their crest on their website and you will see that it is “Maintiens le droit” which most accurately translates as “Uphold the (rule of) law”. But if you ask 1,000 Canadians and 1,000 Americans what the motto of the Mounties is, I am convinced that at least 990 people in both samplings would answer “We get our man.” Why? Because that motto was made up by Hollywood, and so it is believed by over 90% of people in both countries. That shows you what a pathetic, wimpy, subsidiary of the US Canada is. It shows you what a picayune and irrelevant little pile of nothing we are. The RCMP are the most famous symbol of Canada, and 99% of Canadians think their motto is something invented by some American film writer sitting under a palm tree in Hollywood. And you wonder why this country is less significant than Pitcairn Island? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499/20 "2006-07-01T01:19:52Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > And you wonder why this country is less significant than Pitcairn Island? No, not really. I used to, but then I actually went to Canada. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-gay-marriages-have-there-been-in-the-us-elsewhere/359499.md?page=2)