same sex marriages – demographic analysis karen hampton, registration unit oregon center for...
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Same Sex Marriages – Demographic Analysis
Karen Hampton, Registration Unit
Oregon Center for Health Statistics
Vital Records time line
March 2004 Multnomah County commissioners held press conference and began issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples.
Vital Records time line
April 2004 Judge Bearden ordered the county to stop issuing licenses and the state to honor those that had been issued. Records were stored, but not registered.
Vital Records Update
July 9, 2004 CHS was ordered to register the records as a ‘ministerial act’.
July 16, 2004 All completed records were registered (2,958 of the final 2,976 received).
Vital Records Update
April 14, 2005 Oregon Supreme Court declared same sex marriages void.
CHS stopped issuing certified copies of same sex marriage records.
Oregon Supreme Court decision in Li vs. State of Oregon “ …[T]he county erroneously
transmogrified a governmental official's ongoing obligation to support the constitution into an implied grant of authority,…, to prescribe remedies for any perceived constitutional shortcomings in such laws …
Transmogrified? trans·mog·ri·fy
To change into a different shape or form, especially one that is fantastic or bizarre.
Opportunities created Learned how quickly 3,000 records can be
reviewed, numbered and entered. Mainframe system surprisingly endured the
addition of a new field for sex. Jennifer Woodward was on a first name
basis with more DOJ staff. Analyzed the demographic profile of same
sex couples who chose to marry.
How do we know sex of spouses?
Limitations of data Marriage licenses were available to same
sex couples only in Multnomah County, not statewide as to opposite sex couples.
Licenses were available only between March 3 and April 20, 2004.
And many more.
Residency
Home for both spouses
Home for one spouse
Home for neither
Male/Female 86.5% 6.2% 7.3%
Male/Male 68.5% 0.9% 30.6%
Female/Female 67.9% 0.7% 31.4%
Residency,Oregon Occurrences, 2004 YTD
Same sex couples were more likely to be non-residents than opposite sex couples.
Gender
CountPercentof Total
Total 2,968 100.0%Male/Male 869 29.3%Female/Female 2,099 70.7%
Same-sex Marriages
Oregon Occurrence, 2004 YTD Preliminary More than twice as
many females married as males.
Age of Spouses
The mean age of same sex couples was older than that of opposite sex couples.
Mean Age
Male/ Spouse 1 34.7Female Spouse 2 32.1Male/ Spouse 1 43.0Male Spouse 2 41.3Female/ Spouse 1 42.6Female Spouse 2 42.2
Mean Age of Spouses,Oregon Occurrence,
2004 YTD Preliminary
Educational Attainment
TotalNo
College
EitherSpouseCollege
Male/Female 100% 63.6% 36.4%Male/Male 100% 27.6% 72.4%Female/Female 100% 22.2% 77.8%
Marriage by Years of Education
Oregon Occurrence, 2004 YTD Preliminary
Education levels completed were higher for same-sex couples.
Previous Marriages
First for both
First for one spouse
Second or more for both
Male/Female 49.4% 20.5% 28.5%
Male/Male 72.8% 22.9% 3.8%
Female/Female 56.6% 35.2% 7.7%
Previous Marriages,Oregon Occurrences, 2004 YTD
Total does not add to 100% due to unknow ns.
Male/Male marriages were most likely to be the first marriage for both spouses.
Type of Ceremony
Civil ReligiousMale/Female 30.9% 68.9%Male/Male 11.4% 88.1%Female/Female 10.0% 89.9%
Oregon Occurrence2004 YTD Preliminary
Total does not add to 100% due to unknowns.
Same sex couples were more likely to have religious officiants.
Ripples Measure 36 passed – constitutional
amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
Higher profile legislative debate on civil unions, reciprocal beneficiary agreements, and covenant marriages.
Additional information available
On the CHS web site at http://oregon.gov/
DHS/ph/chs/order/samesex.shtml
On the Department of Justice web site at http://www.doj.state.or.us/samesex.htm
Thank you for your time
Karen Hampton
Registration Unit Manager
Oregon Center for Health Statistics
(503) 731-4412