The Skinny on DP Dissolution Rates in Washington State

Sometimes

the statistics just sneak up and bite you on the ass, don't they boys?

Cause any fool knows, a dog needs a home; a shelter from pigs on the wing

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by: QueerInSoCal @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 10:55:40 AM CDT

Especially stats like these:

From advocate.com:

Since the legalization of same-sex marriage in the Netherlands, gay couples appear to have divorced at a rate of about 1%--nearly the same rate as heterosexual couples, according to data released Monday.

The Netherlands legalized same-sex marriage in April 2001--the first country to do so--and the data released Monday was the first time the government has reported on gay divorce rates. Between April 2001 and December 2003 there were 5,751 gay marriages and 63 divorces, according to figures gathered from city registers. In the same period, there were around 243,000 heterosexual marriages and 2,800 heterosexual divorces. The Netherlands has a population of 16 million.

This means the Dutch divorce rate is comparable to the UK's dissolution (gay divorce) rate which, according to PinkNews, is also around 1% which is in itself notable because the British divorce rate has long been higher than the Dutch, who have one of the lowest divorce rates in Europe.

I have to wonder if Larry the Hutt might need his eyes tested. These stats may well have snuck up on him, but it's a lot like being snuck up on by a T-Rex.

____________________________________
Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum.

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by: tavdy79 @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 14:55:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Massachusetts

One might be able to make a useful comparison on divorce rates by looking at Massachusetts.  

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by: Zorya @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 11:00:32 AM CDT

If I remember correctly

Massachusetts doesn't keep separate stats for same- and different-sex marriages.  You would need to look at each marriage license and guess which sex Party A and Party B was to decide how to categorize the marriage.  It's not impossible, but...

Because California dispensed with the Party A/B scheme and let people check off "husband" or "wife", we could have had some good data from that state if "the people" hadn't trashed the whole system with Prop 8.  I'm not sure whether IA, VT, ME, NH or CT make identifying s-s couples any easier.

Lurleen on Twitter

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by: Lurleen @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 11:17:54 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's still rather telling that

MA has the lowest divorce rate in the country. Not substantial, but still a big point in our favor.

Fetch my pearls, I need to clutch them!

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by: RainbowPhoenix @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 11:26:05 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

yes and,

apparently not only are heterosexuals still procreating within the bounds of wedlock, but so are LGBT people!  the wonders of the lord are boundless. :D

Lurleen on Twitter

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by: Lurleen @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 11:33:12 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

a little more detail

i was curious and so poked around a bit on what info different states request/require on marriage applications.  in states like CT, it's not even consistent from town to town.  interesting.

MA
The Massachusetts Notice of Intention of Marriage does ask for the sex of each person (doesn't mean the state will or won't provide that information readily).  FYI, GLAD has a comprehensive document on How to Get Married in Massachusetts.

IA
Iowa uses the Party A/B system but allows each person the option of designating themselves bride, groom or spouse and listing their gender.  Very nice I must say - no pidgeon-holing in Iowa.

CT
In Ct, it seems that different town clerks collect different information on their marriage license application forms.  For instance, Bridgewater forces one person to be "bride" and the other to be "groom".  There is no way to designate the true gender or sex of the person.  However in West Hartford, sex is mandatory information and one person can choose between "husband/spouse" and the other "wife/spouse".  No husband/husband or wife/wife option available apparently.   Here is GLAD's tome How to Get Married in CT.

Lurleen on Twitter

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by: Lurleen @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 12:31:19 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Further facts

I have friends who are a couple.  They were in a domestic partnership.  One was transferred out of the country with his job.  Legally they could no longer be in the domestic partnership so had it dissolved.  They still consider themselves married.  If they had been legally married they wouldn't have needed to divorce as there is no requirement for shared residence in marriage laws.  So, at least one of those 137 terminations is not terminated in fact, only legally.  I wonder how many others there are.

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by: sammyseattle @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 11:47:10 AM CDT

This is another reason

domestic partnerships are not the equivalent of marriage, as one man/one woman proponents claim.  DP's are generally not portable and if they are the terms vary from state to state.  California the shared residence requirement is more flexible and one partner can leave for a period of time, so long as they intend to return to the home.  Wouldn't intent to return always be there regardless of how long they were apart?  At least until the couple decided to permanently separate.

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by: Guy in SF @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 16:24:10 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

That's how I read it.

When our DP was "notarized", I doubt the notary was aware of the shared residence requirement.  He didn't ask.

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by: Karen in Kalifornia @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 20:35:37 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Ours was done at the UPS store

by a twenty-something straight guy.  He was cool, after notarizing the document he proclaimed, "I now announce you Domestic Partners."

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by: Guy in SF @ Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 14:50:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

A Student

Recently, a student wrote a paper that was disgusting.  She was very homophobic and saying nasty stuff about gay people.  I told her that no one will accept her argument if she is so mean about the topic.  One really weird item was uncited stats that said gay males have a 50% chance of divorce and lesbians have a 180% chance of divorce.  I asked her about it because I said there was no chance that she could a stat like that--there are no marriages over a longtime except for Mass, and they would not be representative.  I asked where she got this stat.  She said that she heard it at church, but I asked her about the logic regarding it, and she could not answer.  She was freaked that I would question it.

BTW she failed the class.  Not because of that but because she was a lazy student.

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by: Johnnywhynot @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 11:55:46 AM CDT

Not to mention...

that, well, there's no way lesbians could have a 180% chance of divorce.  I suppose she might have meant to express that as a 180% higher chance of divorce than heterosexuals.  Because after all, heterosexual divorce is supposedly around 50% already.  But you can find a stat to say anything you want.  And it's completely unacceptable to put something in an academic paper that you heard at church (or at work, or on the street)!

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by: JosephineTx @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 14:08:22 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

check the math

Shouldn't the divorce rate for Larry Stickney be 67%?

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by: sdv @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 13:05:04 PM CDT

Is the divorce rate any higher than in the Bible Belt?

What does the "divorce rate" among same-sex couples have to do with marriage equality?  If we prohibited marriage based on divorce stats, no one in the Old Confederate states would be able to get married and Newt Grinch would be banned for life.

When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. ~ Sinclair Lewis

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by: CParis @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 15:09:25 PM CDT

let no bad stat go unanswered

yes, what you say is right on target.  but if we leave these fake stats go unanswered, they just linger in the air and become accepted as "truth" and add to the overall subliminal doubt about our "worthiness" that the Pidgeon, Randall and Stickney types try to create in people's minds.

Lurleen on Twitter

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by: Lurleen @ Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 15:41:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]