More Than 300,000 Lesbian and Gay Australians Want To Marry
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (OUTNOW) -- NOVEMBER 29, 2011 -- The world's largest research study into the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people today released new findings which show the number of lesbian and gay Australians that want to marry.
The research study called LGBT2020 (www.LGBT2020.com) is undertaken by the international specialist LGBT agency Out Now - which was originally based in Australia and is now headquartered in The Netherlands.
According to this research study, most gay and lesbian Australians (56%) are currently in a relationship, with 42% living with their same-gender partner and a further 14% being in a relationship but not currently living together with their partner.
Confining its analysis to only those Australian respondents currently in a relationship - the LGBT2020 research data released today reveals that 63% of those not yet living together hope to get married if that option becomes available to them. For those already living together, 57% of respondents would like to marry.
In releasing the findings, Ian Johnson, Founder and CEO of Out Now said that the new data helps focus people's minds on what is really at stake in discussions regarding the so-called "gay marriage" debate in Australia.
"It is a somewhat sobering fact to contemplate that almost 350,000 people in Australia are in relationships and would like to get married, but marriage as a legal option is not open to them," says Johnson. "To be lesbian or gay in 2011 is just one aspect of an individual's life and it seems hard to justify legal discrimination against such a large number of Australian people."
According to the latest Out Now research, Australia is currently home to 1.1 million lesbian and gay adults (aged 16 and older). Of these 594,000 are currently in a relationship, and of these the majority would like to get married. A total of 347,000 Australian gays and lesbians are currently in a relationship and hope to marry.
"The numbers suggest that those currently being discriminated against by Australia's laws against Marriage Equality are somewhat higher than previously estimated," says Johnson. "Our latest analysis looked specifically at those people currently in relationships that want to marry. When you add in those who are currently single, the number hoping to get married jumps to more than 600,000. As an Australian living in The Netherlands it bothers me that so many people I meet assume Australia is the kind of progressive country that would have already modernised its marriage laws, when in reality it is now lagging ten years behind my adopted country. To think I could marry here, but not at home, seems very outdated to me."
In total, 58.4% of Australian gay and lesbian Australian research respondents in the LGBT2020 study say they want to get married - which accounts for 623,000 Australians who hope to marry either now - or in the future. 6% of all research respondents (an estimated 32,000 couples in the total Australian gay and lesbian population) indicated they have already entered into some form of civil union, marriage or other type of commitment ceremony.