A study conducted 13 months after the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts found that legal protections and making a public statement of commitment were the most often mentioned motivations for same-sex marriage.
It also found that lack of family approval and difficulties planning and paying for the wedding were the biggest obstacles. Psychologist Robert-Jay Green says, “The arrival of same-sex marriage brings up many issues that often lurk in the background in families. It forces same-sex couples and their parents to confront their deepest feelings about same-sex love.”
For this study, Green talked to over 260 partners in same-sex couples who had been together an average of 7.5 years. 72% of them had gotten legally married in the 13 months after same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts, and 28% planned to marry within 16 months.
One of the main motivations for marriage was security. One person said, “We thought we should get married so that we could take better care of each other as we got older; or if someone got sick?nobody could take our right to provide for each other away.”
Art credit: freeimages.co.uk
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