Sweden Study: Same-sex marriages have higher divorce rates

By Katherine T. Phan, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, May 11, 2004

A recent study of same-sex “marriages” in Sweden—where gay “marriage” is legal—has revealed that homosexual couples experience dramatically increased rates of divorce.

The study, which has been titled “Same-Sex Unions and Divorce Risk: Data from Sweden,” was performed by the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy. Its findings were published in the group’s official policy brief.

The Wording of the Policy Brief

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“Same-sex legal unions, however, had unusually high rates of divorce. Sweden is a country with relatively low rates of marriage and relatively high rates of divorce. In 1999, 55 percent of Swedish births occurred outside of marriage. There were 53 divorces for every 100 marriages.”

“The study found that gay male couples were 1.5 times as likely (or 50% more likely) to divorce as married opposite sex couples, while lesbian couples were 2.67 times as likely (167% more likely) to divorce as opposite sex married couples over a similar period of time. Even after controlling for demographic characteristics associated with increased risk of divorce, male same-sex couples were 1.35 times as likely (35% more likely) to divorce, and lesbian couples were three times as likely (200% more likely) to divorce as opposite-sex married couples.”