Civil Unions and Marriages: September 2015 quarter shows that there were 19,659 traditional marriages, up from 19,266, while there were 450 same-sex marriages, down from 504. (1)
The Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 passed on August 19, 2013, allows same-sex couples to legally marry.
Same-sex marriages during the past two years (954) represented fewer than 2.4 percent of total marriages – despite the claims of a huge demand for same-sex marriage.
Overseas couples represent almost half of the total same-sex marriages (45 percent), while overseas opposite-sex couples represent only 11 percent of traditional marriages.
National Director of Family First NZ director Bob McCoskrie said “supporters of redefining marriage have had to rely on marriage tourism to justify the change.”
“Redefining marriage was about deconstructing and weakening the meaning and purpose of marriage from its role as a specific culturally and historically bound institution,” he said. (2)
Meanwhile, a new study in the International Journal of Epidemiology comparing the health outcomes of all couples in Denmark over a three-decade period sheds interesting light on the uniqueness of the male-female marital bond. (3)
During 2000 to 2011, Danish male-female married couples were the healthiest and least likely to die at various ages compared with individuals who were unmarried, divorced or widowed.
In contrast, same-sex married men in Denmark were no healthier than unmarried men.
Same-sex married women had much higher mortality rates than other women, including the ones who were unmarried, divorced or widowed. There was no apparent marriage “benefit” in terms of better health or longer life for these same-sex married women.
Sources
1. Civil Unions and Marriages: September 2015 quarter. http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/people_and_communities/marriages-civil-unions-and-divorces/CivilUnionsAndMarriages_HOTPSep15qtr.aspx
2. Declining interest for same-sex 'marriage’, http://bobmccoskrie.com/?p=15357#sthash.F9XBgWAf.a0xr94qi.dpuf
3. Marriage, cohabitation and mortality in Denmark: national cohort study of 6.5 million persons followed for up to three decades (1982–2011). http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/42/2/559.abstract?sid=78ef526a-17fc-4ea6-a5bb-8fbb652bd920
3 comments:
Fair enough Mike. On the basis of this research, I continue to marry women. But its still bad for health when they leave.
Well, the statistics about the number of same-sex marriages are logical - initially a large number, as the backlog is cleared, then a reduced, but continuing, smaller number.
It is probable that same sex couples with health issues are more likely to marry. They want the security of legal backing for their union. This takes away the nightmare of partner families taking away or disputing the right of a partner to what is theirs.
This is a very old scenario. When the spouse dies the family move in to claim there is no legal right to the survivor to property. It is a nightmare that happens all over the world. We should be grateful that this is no longer a loophole for same sex couples.
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