Philocrites

Happy anniversary!

by Philocrites

Exactly a year ago, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court opened the way to civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples. The Boston Globe reports that Cambridge — my "fair city" — has granted marriage licenses to 577 same-sex couples since May 17, when the first licenses were granted; 310 of those licenses were granted in the first week. More:

In Boston, gay or lesbian couples made up 491 of the 2,365 couples who have applied for licenses since May 17, or 21 percent of the total. Although exact numbers are hard to come by, the percentage of gay and lesbian adults in Boston is probably no more than 10 percent, according to Gary J. Gates, a demographer at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., and the author of the "Gay and Lesbian Atlas."

Some Boston marriages probably involve people coming to the city because it offered an accepting environment. Gates said the relatively high number of gay and lesbian couples getting married probably reflects pent-up demand. . . . [Probably?]

In Provincetown and Northampton, same-sex couples made up the majority of people who received marriage licenses in the last six months.

In Provincetown, 912, or 97 percent, of the 937 couples who have applied for licenses since May 17 are same-sex couples. In Northampton, 325, or 66 percent, of the 494 couples who got licenses were gay or lesbian.

In Provincetown, 225 of the same-sex couples applied for licenses during the first week after May 17, and in Northampton 114 did. Other cities and towns also had relatively high percentages of same-sex couples applying: In Somerville 32 percent of the applicants were gay or lesbian couples, and in Springfield the percentage was 12 percent.

Best wishes to all of you!

Copyright © 2004 by Philocrites | Posted 18 November 2004 at 7:55 AM

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