Is the demand for homosexual "marriage" a disingenuous political tool? Only a small percentage of the estimated homosexual populations in the Netherlands, Belgium, or Massachusetts have "married". Bear in mind that Massachusetts is a "magnet" state for homosexuals who do want to "marry" in this country. (And note that the story inaccurately reports that such "marriage" is "legal" in Massachusetts.)
Apr 26, 2006
Study Assesses How Many Gays Marry if Legal
By DAVID CRARYAP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- A new study attempts to gauge the percentage of gays and lesbians who have chosen to marry in places where that option is legal, with estimates ranging from as little as 2 percent to more than 16 percent, depending on the location.
A co-author of the report, released Wednesday, said both sides in the gay marriage debate may take heart from the findings.
The Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, which opposes gay marriage, reviewed data from the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and Massachusetts, all of which allow same-sex partners to wed.
In each case, the study offered a range of estimates of the percentage of gays who had married, based on varying approximations - from 1 percent to 5 percent - of how many gays were in the general population.
In the Netherlands, where 8,127 same-sex couples married from April 1, 2001, through last December, the study said this represented between 2.6 percent and 6.3 percent of the country's gays and lesbians.
The study estimated that between 2 percent and 5 percent of Belgium's gays and lesbians, and 5.9 percent to 16.7 percent of those in Massachusetts had married. Same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts in May 2004, and 7,341 gay and lesbians couples had wed there through last December. [Read more ...]
