The Statistics you should know about same-sex marriage

“Love is never a matter of gender”

As of March 2017, the legalization process of same sex marriage has been recognized in the following 22 countries:

- Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uruguay. While the situation is not the same in other places in the world. Same-sex marriage is still illegal in 76 countries that are mostly located in Africa and Asia.

In 10 countries and regions homosexuality can even be punished by death, such as Yemen, Iran and Qatar.

(The Washington Post : https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/gay-rights/)

For years, people have wanted to find out the exact number of homosexual individuals to obtain accurate statistics on homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Some people are still not willing to express their sexual orientation publicly. As a result, most of the statistics are self-reported data.

According to a national representative study organized by Kantar TNS in 2017, 87% of British men aged 18 to 30 years identify as heterosexual, 7% as homosexual, 5% as bisexual, and 2% as other.

Whereas in 2015, ONS said 1.7% of the UK population identified themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGBT). More males (2.0%) than females (1.5%) identified themselves as LGBT in 2015. Of the population aged 16 to 24, there were 3.3% identifying themselves as LGBT, the largest percentage within any age group in 2015. The population who identified as LGBT in 2015 were most likely to be single, never married or in a civil partnership at 68.2%. According to some self-reported statistics, the population of homosexuals is between 50 million to 70 million, accounting for 4% - 5% of the total population.

In China, a Deputy for the People's Congress raises a proposal for the legalization of same sex marriage every year, yet it is still considered to be suitable for the current social and political climate.

However, there has been a dramatic shift in people’s attitudes towards same sex marriage, take America as an example, the percentage of those supporting same sex marriage rose from 37% in 2009 to 57% in May 2015 and it is expected to reach 65% this year. Among the groups most likely to favour same-sex marriage today are Millennials (73%), Democrats (65%) and people without any religious affiliation (85%).

(PEW Research Centre: http://www.people-press.org/2015/06/08/support-for-same-sex-marriage-at-record-high-but-key-segments-remain-opposed/6-8-2015-11-27-10-am/ )

In the recent Pew Research survey, nearly three-quarters (72%) of Americans – including half of those who oppose gay marriage – said they saw legal recognition of same-sex marriages as “inevitable”.

(source:PEW Research Centre)

In UK, 1,409 same-sex marriages were formed between same-sex couples between 29 March and 30 June 2014. 56% of these marriages were to female couples (796 marriages) while 44% were to male couples (613 marriages). By the end of 2014, 5,000 same-sex couples had married in England and Wales.

Mr McGraith, one of the couples who married on the first day it became legal in UK said: "Very few countries afford their gay and lesbian citizens equal marriage rights and we believe that this change in law will bring hope and strength to gay men and lesbians in Nigeria, Uganda, Russia, India and elsewhere, who lack basic equality and are being criminalised for their sexual orientation."