Friday will mark the 10-year anniversary of the Netherlands becoming the first country to legalize same-sex marriage. In the past decade, some 15,000 gay couples have taken them up on the offer — which represents just 2 percent of all Dutch marriages, 1 percent of all divorces, and 20 percent of all self-identified gay couples. Following the Netherlands’ lead, 10 countries (and some Mexican and U.S. districts) have enacted gay marriage laws.
Cam
So the married gays only make up 20% of all gay couples and yet account for 2% of all marriages in Holland.
Guess those people that say gays make up less than one percent of people in the world are going to have a tough time explaining that.
B
Re No 1:
Don’t read too much into the numbers. If you read the article, the 2% refers to both gays and lesbians who were married (slightly more lesbians got married than gays). The comparison is only for marriages since April 2001, when same-sex marriage was legalized in the Netherlands. There is probably some over-counting in comparison to straight couples due to a “pent up demand” effect if you want the rates at which straight versus gay and lesbian couples marry.
Snownova
True, we would have to wait at least a generation before a reasonably scientific and statistically relevant comparison between straight and gay marriages can be made.