Same-Sex Marriage
Marriage Equality Around the World….
‘Marriage is a legally, and socially recognized union between two individuals, that is regulated by laws, customs, and beliefs’ — this is a very dry definition of what one hopes is a meaningful and loving journey with our partners for life. But what role does love play in all of this? For most of marriage history, none at all. So the definition of marriage keeps changing. In today’s world, an ideal marriage is based on the notion of two equals seeking love, stability, and happiness together. The modern relationship is based on companionship, respect, and mutual sexual attraction. Couples are increasingly making choices about their lives together.
With a steady advance in LGBTQ+ rights, a growing number of countries are legalizing same-sex weddings. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender(LGBT) rights have been evolving rapidly in recent years. However, LGBT citizens still face social and legal difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT persons. The battle for gay rights has been long and difficult. Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is “an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions” to people of the same sex. Along with bisexuality and heterosexuality, homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation within the Heterosexual-Homosexual Continuum. The term same-sex relationship is not strictly related to the sexual relationship of the participants. As people of any orientation may participate in same-sex relationships.
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex or gender. There are records of marriage between people of the same sex dating back to the first century. Denmark becomes the first country in the world to legally recognize same-sex unions. There are currently 31 countries where same-sex marriage is legal: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay. 22 countries have legalized same-sex marriage nationally through legislation. Among these, Australia, Ireland, and Switzerland legalized same-sex marriage through legislation only after nationwide votes. 7 countries have legalized same-sex marriage nationally through court decisions — Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, South Africa, Taiwan, and the United States of America. 2 countries, South Africa and Taiwan enacted legislation legalizing same-sex marriage after courts mandated them to do so.
Gay people can have happier marriages than hetero, a study finds…
Professor Janeen Baxter, Director of the Life Course Centre(LCC) led by The University of Queensland, said the quality of intimate relationships of gay and lesbian people was high, if not higher than the quality of heterosexual couples’ relationships.
“Same-sex couples have been the subject of intense media and political debate in recent years, primarily in relation to formal rights to marry and raise children,” Professor Baxter says. Our results provide robust evidence to combat deep-rooted and erroneous social perceptions of same-sex relationships being conflictual, unhappy, and dysfunctional. In fact, relationship quality in same-sex couples was as high as in heterosexual couples in the United Kingdom, and higher in Australia. Relative to heterosexual relationships, same-sex relationships tend to have more equitable domestic work arrangements, less defined gender roles, and a greater sense of social connectedness to a community. We believe these findings support policies to legalise same-sex marriage and parenting rights.”
However, the study also found that bisexual people had greater difficulties with the quality of their relationships. The authors suggest this could be because bisexual individuals fail to fit neatly into either the heterosexual mainstream or the gay and lesbian community, which in turn may lead to poorer social networks and lower levels of social support.
Married LGBT older people are much healthier and happier than singles, a study finds…..
UW researchers found that LGBT study participants who were married reported better physical and mental health, more social support, and greater financial resources than those who were single. It was published in a February special supplement of The Gerontologist.
Some 2.7 million adults ages 50 and older identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender — a number that is expected to nearly double by 2060. Among LGBT people, marriage increased noticeably after a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Researchers found that, in general, participants in a relationship, whether married or in a long-term partnership, showed better health outcomes than those who were single. But those who were married fared even better, both socially and financially, than couples in unmarried, long-term partnerships. Single LGBT adults were more likely to have a disability; to report lower physical, psychological, social, and environmental quality of life; and to have experienced the death of a partner, especially among men.
Gay marriage is still new and it seems to be, at least based on the social science research, different in certain ways from straight marriage. And that may not be such a bad thing.
