One in Five Gay Couples Now Live in Marriage Equality States

About 35,000 same-sex couples live in Maine, Maryland, and Washington State, where voters approved marriage equality in Tuesday's election.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

Read Full Bio

Trudy Ring

November 08 2012 1:32 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

trudestress

Sorry to interrupt...
But we wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading. Your support makes original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Help us hold Trump accountable.

One-time Monthly

$19.67 $50 Other

$5 $19.67 $50

Thanks to Tuesday's votes establishing marriage equality in Maine, Maryland, and Washington State, one in five U.S. same-sex couples now live in a state where they can legally marry, according to the Williams Institute.

The institute's analysis of 2010 Census data indicates that there are approximately 35,000 same-sex couples in those three states. The votes this week mean that nine states and the District of Columbia now have marriage equality, and 20% of the same-sex couples in the nation live in those jurisdictions, the institute reports.

If the U.S. Supreme Court affirms or lets stand a federal appeals court decision striking down California's anti-equality Proposition 8, 35% of same-sex couples in the U.S. will live in states where they can marry, the institute notes.

The Williams Institute, a national think tank on law and public policy regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, is located at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. For more of its analysis of Census data and other topics, click here.

From Your Site Articles