April 14, 2005 - The Oregon Supreme Court's ruling voided the same sex marriage certificates issued by Multnomah county and registered with the state vital records office. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has requested that the Center for Health Statistics stop issuing certified copies of these marriage records. No other action related to the certificates will be taken until the Center gets further instructions from the DOJ.
Same-sex marriage: Preliminary Statistics
Profile of Same-sex Marriages for Licenses issued by Multnomah County from March 3, 2004 through April 20, 2004
2,968 same-sex marriages have been registered and the data have been analyzed. Fifty-six (56) marriage licenses are still being processed by the state vital records office or are being followed up by Multnomah County.
Comparisons are made to 11,004 non same-sex (male/female) marriages that occurred statewide from January through June.
Marriages among same-sex couples were more likely to be women. Between Male/Male (M/M) and Female/Female (F/F) unions, 2.4 times as many F/F unions occurred than M/M unions.
As might be expected, since the option for marriage was not previously possible for couples of the same gender, these unions were more likely to be first marriages. First marriages for M/M was 72.8% and 56.6% for F/F unions; while for the Male/Female (M/F) unions, 49.4% were first marriages for both spouses. Previous marriages for both partners in a couple was more common for M/F unions; 28.5% of both spouses in M/F unions had previously been married, while for M/M 3.8% had both been married, and for F/F 7.7% of both spouses had previously been married.
Also possibly due to the unavailability of marriage previously, couples in same-sex unions are on average older. Spouses in same-sex marriages are about 10 years older than male/female couples. The mean age for M/M unions was 43 for the 1st spouse listed on the marriage record and 41 for the 2nd spouse listed; for F/F unions the mean age was 42 for both spouses. For M/F unions the mean age of the groom was nearly 35 and for the bride it was 32. For first marriages among M/F unions, the mean age drops to approximately 28 and 26. For same-sex marriages there is no substantial difference in mean age between total and first marriage.
Education levels completed are higher for same-sex couples. Among F/F marriages, in 78% of the unions at least one of the spouses had 4 years of college or more. Among M/M marriages that percentage was 72%, and among M/F marriages around 36% had 4 years of college or advanced degrees.
Approximately 68% of both spouses in same-sex marriages were residents of Oregon; while in male/female marriages 86.5% of both spouses reside in Oregon. In M/F unions 6.2% of the marriages had one spouse that lived in Oregon and in 7.3% Oregon was the destination spot for their marriage (neither spouse resided in Oregon). In approximately 30% of same-sex marriages, both spouses lived in other states and Oregon was the destination site for their marriage.
Same-sex Marriages,
Oregon Occurrence, 2004 YTD Preliminary1 |
| |
Count |
Percent
of Total |
| Total |
2,968 |
100% |
| Male/Male |
869 |
29.3% |
| Female/Female |
2,099 |
70.7% |
1 Preliminary data are undergoing editing procedures which
result in frequent and significant changes. Please use caution
when interpreting these data. Data can be used for tracking
recent events but are not appropriate for use in statistical analyses.
|
Previous Marriages for Both Spouses,
Oregon Occurrence, 2004 YTD Preliminary1 |
| |
Total |
Number of
Marriages
for Spouse 1* |
| 1st |
2nd+ |
Unk. |
Number of
Marriages
for Spouse 2 |
Male/Female Total |
11,004 |
6,652 |
4,228 |
124 |
| First Marriage |
6,502 |
5,432 |
1,061 |
9 |
| Second or More Marriages |
4,373 |
1,203 |
3,140 |
30 |
| Unknown Marital Status |
129 |
17 |
27 |
85 |
Number of
Marriages
for Spouse 2 |
Male/Male Total |
869 |
720 |
146 |
3 |
| First Marriage |
746 |
633 |
113 |
- |
| Second or More Marriages |
120 |
86 |
33 |
1 |
| Unknown Marital Status |
3 |
1 |
- |
2 |
Number of
Marriages
for Spouse 2 |
Female/Female Total |
2,099 |
1,591 |
498 |
10 |
| First Marriage |
1,523 |
1,188 |
335 |
- |
| Second or More Marriages |
571 |
403 |
162 |
6 |
| Unknown Marital Status |
5 |
- |
1 |
4 |
| |
Percents |
Number of
Marriages
for Spouse 2 |
Male/Female Total |
100% |
|
|
|
| First Marriage |
|
49.4% |
9.6% |
0.1% |
| Second or More Marriages |
|
10.9% |
28.5% |
0.3% |
| Unknown Marital Status |
|
0.2% |
0.2% |
0.8% |
Number of
Marriages
for Spouse 2 |
Male/Male Total |
100% |
|
|
|
| First Marriage |
|
72.8% |
13.0% |
0.0% |
| Second or More Marriages |
|
9.9% |
3.8% |
0.1% |
| Unknown Marital Status |
|
0.1% |
0.0% |
0.2% |
Number of
Marriages
for Spouse 2 |
Female/Female Total |
100% |
|
|
|
| First Marriage |
|
56.6% |
16.0% |
0.0% |
| Second or More Marriages |
|
19.2% |
7.7% |
0.3% |
| Unknown Marital Status |
|
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.2% |
1 Preliminary data are undergoing editing procedures which
result in frequent and significant changes. Please use caution
when interpreting these data. Data can be used for tracking recent
events but are not appropriate for use in statistical analyses. |
* Spouse 1 is the first individual listed on the marriage
license, for male/female marriages this is the male.
|
- Quantity is zero.
|
Mean Age of Spouses by Previous Marriages,
Oregon Occurrence, 2004 YTD Preliminary1 |
| Mean Age |
Total |
Number of
Marriages
for Spouse 1* |
Number of
Marriages
for Spouse 2 |
| 1st |
2nd+ |
Unk. |
1st |
2nd+ |
Unk. |
| Male/Female |
Spouse 1 |
34.7 |
27.8 |
45.5 |
38.9 |
28.3 |
44.1 |
38.6 |
| Spouse 2 |
32.1 |
26.3 |
41.1 |
37.0 |
25.5 |
41.8 |
35.1 |
| Male/Male |
Spouse 1 |
43.0 |
41.9 |
48.4 |
42.0 |
42.6 |
45.5 |
38.0 |
| Spouse 2 |
41.3 |
40.8 |
43.6 |
47.0 |
40.5 |
46.5 |
34.7 |
| Female/Female |
Spouse 1 |
42.6 |
40.9 |
47.9 |
45.9 |
41.6 |
45.0 |
50.0 |
| Spouse 2 |
42.2 |
41.0 |
45.7 |
47.4 |
40.3 |
47.0 |
48.2 |
1 Preliminary data are undergoing editing procedures which
result in frequent and significant changes. Please use caution
when interpreting these data. Data can be used for tracking recent
events but are not appropriate for use in statistical analyses. |
* Spouse 1 is the first individual listed on the marriage
license, for male/female marriages this is the male. |
Marriages by Years of Education,
Oregon Occurrence, 2004 YTD Preliminary1 |
| Total |
No College |
Either
Spouse
College |
| Male/Female |
11,004 |
7,000 |
4,004 |
| Male/Male |
869 |
240 |
629 |
| Female/Female |
2,099 |
466 |
1,633 |
| Percents |
| Male/Female |
100% |
63.6% |
36.4% |
| Male/Male |
100% |
27.6% |
72.4% |
| Female/Female |
100% |
22.2% |
77.8% |
1 Preliminary data are undergoing editing procedures which
result in frequent and significant changes. Please use caution
when interpreting these data. Data can be used for tracking recent
events but are not appropriate for use in statistical analyses. |
Marriages by Residency, Oregon Occurrence,
2004 YTD Preliminary1 |
| Total |
Both
Spouses
Oregon
Residents |
One
Spouse |
Neither
Spouse
Oregon
Resident |
| Total |
13,972 |
11,543 |
699 |
1,730 |
| Male/Female |
11,004 |
9,523 |
677 |
804 |
| Male/Male |
869 |
595 |
8 |
266 |
| Female/Female |
2,099 |
1,425 |
14 |
660 |
| Percents |
| Male/Female |
100% |
86.5% |
6.2% |
7.3% |
| Male/Male |
100% |
68.5% |
0.9% |
30.6% |
| Female/Female |
100% |
67.9% |
0.7% |
31.4% |
1 Preliminary data are undergoing editing procedures which
result in frequent and significant changes. Please use caution
when interpreting these data. Data can be used for tracking recent
events but are not appropriate for use in statistical analyses. |
Return to Current Status of Same-Sex Marriage
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