New U.S. study shows that same sex couples do want marriage

7 Aug 2008

A new report by UCLA's Williams Institute shows that same sex couples in the U.S. prefer marriage over civil partnership or civil unions.

The study analyses data from states that have extended legal recognition to same-sex couples. Analyses show that same-sex couples want and use these new legal statuses. Furthermore, they react more enthusiastically when marriage is possible. More than 40% of same-sex couples have formed legal unions in states where such recognition is available. Same-sex couples prefer marriage over civil unions or domestic partnerships. In the first year that marriage was offered in Massachusetts, 37% of same-sex couples there married. In states that offered civil unions, only 12% of same-sex couples took advantage of this status in the first year and only 10% did so in states with domestic partnership registries.

The full report is available on PDF here.