Belgium Releases Gay Marriage Stats

(Brussels) A year after Belgium became the second country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage the government has released statistics on who has been taking advantage of the gay nuptials.

Three-hundred same-sex couples have married, That represents about 1.2 percent of all marriages registered in Belgium over the past 12 months.

The figures show that male couples were about equal to female couples in tying the knot. But, the majority came from the Flanders section of the country, as opposed to Wallonia or the Brussels region.

Of the 300 gay unions celebrated last year, 240 took place in Flanders, 38 in Wallonia and just 22 in the capital and its suburbs.

Under the Belgian law that allows gay couples to marry, adoption is still not permitted. Many lesbian couples have used fertilization clinics, but the biological mother is the only one recognized by the government.

The first country to permit gay marriage was the Netherlands. While it caused a stir internationally at the time, the fact that Holland has always been the world's most gay-positive country made the marriage decision less significant than that of Belgium, home to the European government and considered conservative and stodgy.

Once the Belgian government legalized gay marriage German and France quickly followed with new recognitions for same-sex couples. Germany and France have civil unions, although no marriage rights. A month after the first couples began to marry in Belgium a court in Ontario, Canada ruled gays could marry in that province. Two other provinces soon followed.

This spring, another European country, Spain, announced it would bring in legislation to allow same-sex marriage.

http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/05/053004belgStats.htm

Interesting figures in those stats for sure :)

Regards,

Lee