Things have changed dramatically for same-sex couples over the last half of a decade. Same-sex marriage is now legal everywhere, prohibitions have been removed, and attitudes toward it from the general population have grown more positive than they used to be. That’s not to say that all people accept it openly, but things are trending in a positive direction and have been for some time.
The well-respected Pew Research Center recently put out some interesting facts about what same-sex relationships look like in modern America. A few of them include the following:
- The majority of Americans (61% in the latest survey) support same-sex marriage. It was as low as 37% just over a decade ago, in 2009. That’s a massive shift in opinion over a few years.
- The ruling making same-sex marriage legal has had a dramatic impact on the percentage of married couples in the United States. Before it, only 38% of couples who lived together were married. After it, that jumped up to 61%.
- Same-sex couples get married for the same reasons as opposite-sex couples. When asked, 88% of the general public said that a very important reason to tie the knot was simply being in love. When LGBT couples were asked, 84% of them also cited love.
Of course, the rise in same-sex marriages has brought up a lot of questions. Some same-sex couples decide to get divorced and wonder what steps to take. Others want to do their estate planning. Others just want to know their rights after getting married. It’s important for all same-sex couples to be well-informed on these topics.