A survey released last week shows that
the number of LGBT Americans getting hitched continues to rise.
According to a Gallup poll conducted
over the past year, 10.2% of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender
(LGBT) adults are married to a spouse of the same sex two years after
state bans fell.
The Supreme Court in June of 2015 found
that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.
The number of weddings increased to 9.6% from 7.9% in the first year
after the high court's ruling.
Gallup also found the number of people
living with a same-sex partner dropped dramatically in the two years
since the ruling, from 12.8 % to 6.6%.
“Gallup estimates that 61% of
same-sex, cohabiting couples in the U.S. are now married, up from 38%
before the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in June 2015,
and 49% one year ago,” pollsters wrote in reporting their findings.
Pollsters also found that LGBT men
(11.4%) are more likely than LGBT women (9.3%) to say they are
married to a person of the same sex. Older adults are also more
likely to marry than younger adults.
“Same-sex marriages are becoming
increasingly common, and same-sex domestic partnerships less common,
for LGBT Americans,” Gallup
concluded. “In the first year after the Supreme Court ruled
states could not prohibit same-sex marriages, the percentage of LGBT
Americans who were married grew nearly two percentage points. In the
second year since the ruling, the growth has continued, but at a
diminished rate. This suggests an initial burst in the number of
same-sex marriages came in response to the legal changes. Now, with
those legal changes further in the past, the growth in same-sex
marriages may be slower.”