Same-Sex Marriage Flounders - Few Homosexuals Interested in Tying the Knot

Zenit News Agency ^ | June 24, 2006

[NYer]

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, JUNE 24, 2006 (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.

Papal defense

Meanwhile, Benedict XVI continues to defend the value of marriage between a man and woman as a vital social institution. On May 20, in his speech welcoming Spain's new ambassador to the Holy See, the Pope stated: "The Church proclaims wholeheartedly the fundamental right to life from conception to its natural end, the right to be born, to form and to live in a family, and not to let the family be supplanted by other institutions or different forms."

He added that during his July visit to the World Meeting of Families in Valencia, Spain, he is looking forward to being able to "celebrate the beauty and fruitfulness of the family founded on marriage, its exalted vocation and indispensable social value."

Just two days earlier, in his speech to Australia's new ambassador, the Pontiff noted that many young people are realizing "that it is the transcendent order that steers all life along the path of authentic freedom and happiness."

This respect for a transcendent order, he continued, enables Australians to recognize the fundamental importance of marriage and stable domestic life at the heart of society. "They appreciate that pseudo-forms of 'marriage' distort the Creator's design and undermine the truth of our human nature."

Shortly afterward, Australia's national government overruled an attempt by local authorities in the Australian Capital Territory, the relatively small area where Canberra is located, to introduce same-sex marriage, under the guise of civil unions.

The federal Cabinet decided to invalidate the new law introduced in mid-May, the Age newspaper reported June 7. Prime Minister John Howard branded the law "a plain attempt to equate civil unions with marriage -- and we don't agree with that." The federal Parliament voted in 2004 to explicitly define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The numbers elsewhere indicate that traditional marriage remains far more popular too.

[Brilliant]

But the damage is done.

[NYer]

Vatican Document On Homosexual Unions

“Homosexual unions are totally lacking in the biological and anthropological elements of marriage and family which would be the basis, on the level of reason, for granting them legal recognition. Such unions are not able to contribute in a proper way to the procreation and survival of the human race. The possibility of using recently discovered methods of artificial reproduction, beyond involving a grave lack of respect for human dignity,(15) does nothing to alter this inadequacy.”
CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING PROPOSALS TO GIVE LEGAL RECOGNITION TO UNIONS BETWEEN HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS

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[csvset]

"..pseudo-forms of 'marriage' distort the Creator's design and undermine the truth of our human nature."

Amen to that.

[I-ambush]

The reason for homo marriage was never that they yearned for domesticity, but rather to force society to recognize such relationships as legitimate (since the purpose of civil recognition of marriages is to grant them legitimacy and legal protection).

[ArGee]

After the clamor to legalize same-sex marriage, it turns out that not many homosexuals really want it.

I'm not surprised. I'm not sure how much longer heterosexuals are going to want marriage. For homosexuals, as with most heterosexuals, the sexual relationship is about getting yours. Marriage is about self sacrifice. Self Sacrifice is very unpopular these days, and not just among homosexuals.

Now, I know there will be people coming on the thread to tell me that homosexuals can do self sacrifice. That may be true, but while they're claiming they would rather force all of society to change than accept their status as an unusual minority group then I have a hard time accepting that.

Shalom.

[goldstategop]

Homosexuality is incompatible with a committed relationship. And a counterfeit marriage is only a fake copy of a real one. No wonder these people aren't rushing to tie the knot.

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

[AppyPappy]

Same-sex marriage comes with same-sex divorce. That's going to stop a lot of people. .6% is pretty good considering homosexuals only make up 1-2% of the population.

[ClearCase_guy]

I think that's true.

Homosexuals are not generally interested in long-term relationships. They are shallow and immature people. If society grants recognition of homosexual marriage, the primary "benefit" is a rise in homosexual's self-esteem: "I can be just like everybody else". But they aren't like everybody else, so they don't really follow through on the new capability.

One thing about the rate of union that rarely gets pointed out: Middle-aged (or older) homosexuals have lived their whole lives without being able to join a legal union, and when this ability is finally granted to them, you might think that the flood-gates would open and that decades of pent-up frustration would be unleashed, with massive numbers of marriages in a very short time-frame, and homosexuals dancing in the street yelling "Finally!!"

But it doesn't work that way. Because Homosexuals are not generally interested in long-term relationships.

[NYer]

to force society to recognize such relationships as legitimate (since the purpose of civil recognition of marriages is to grant them legitimacy and legal protection).

Regardless of the motive, they are not exercising this 'civil recognition'. That's the point.

[joshhiggins]

Let's see now, Ten percent of spains population of forty million (assuming half are minors) would suggest about 200,000 gay adults. That would mean 100,000 potential marriages, rather than 1,250.

Using the more realistic figure of 2% of the population being gay that would still suggest 20,000 potential marriages.

Yes, it does look like they really weren't all that interested in marriage.

[edpc]

The Dutch experience

I stopped reading there. It sounded euphamistic.

[NYer]

Self Sacrifice is very unpopular these days, and not just among homosexuals.

Commitment lasts until someone more interesting steps into view. I often chuckle when someone suggests that a certain concept is new. They must not have read Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes
Chapter 1

1

¹ The words of David's son, Qoheleth, king in Jerusalem:

2

² Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!

3

³ What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?

4

One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays.

5

The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises.

6

Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north, the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds.

7

All rivers go to the sea, yet never does the sea become full. To the place where they go, the rivers keep on going.

8

⁴ All speech is labored; there is nothing man can say. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear filled with hearing.

9

What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun.

10

Even the thing of which we say, "See, this is new!" has already existed in the ages that preceded us.

[bilhosty]

I think the Gay marriage thing is just a validation thing. They want respect that is all and very few of them actually want to be "married".

[goldstategop]

What they want is moral approval and legal validation of their lifestyle. Despite their best efforts, there are few takers for it.

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

[ClaireSolt]

It would be good, if we stopped putting pink triangles in our schools and lying to children. They should know about the crime, violence, and disease potential of this lifestyle choice.

[2ndClassCitizen]

Yeah but if even one homosexual couple was fulfilled, then it is worth trashing the entire culture of family and love between a man and a woman, for the other 98% of the population.

[robertpaulsen]

Another important statistic would be how many are still "married" after one year.

[Kozak]

They don't want to be married. They want to destroy the very idea of marriage.

[robertpaulsen]

"Homosexuality is incompatible with a committed relationship."

And homosexual couples admit that their relationships are not monogamous. Which negates the homosexual-marriage-helps-to-prevent-the-spread-of-disease argument.