Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage in 2013... 2% of All Couples
New Zealand is gaining popularity as a destination for foreigners to have same-sex marriages. This trend began after it became the 13th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage 10 years ago.
On the 19th, the New Zealand Herald cited Statistics New Zealand data, reporting that “since the Marriage Amendment Act legalizing same-sex marriage was enacted in August 2013, over 1,200 male same-sex couples and 1,600 female same-sex couples from abroad have come to New Zealand to get married” as of the end of last year.
During the same period, the number of same-sex marriages among couples living in New Zealand was about 2,700 female couples and 1,400 male couples, totaling approximately 4,100 couples.
Over the past decade, the proportion of same-sex married couples in New Zealand has slightly exceeded 2% of all married couples. Additionally, the number of female same-sex marriages has been higher than that of males every year.
Rebecca Hennessy, an analyst at Statistics New Zealand, explained, “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including border closures and restrictions on private gatherings, both same-sex and opposite-sex marriages decreased in 2020 and 2021. In particular, marriages involving foreigners dropped significantly but began to rise again as restrictions were lifted.”
Looking at the nationalities of same-sex couples married in New Zealand last year, Australia accounted for the largest share at 43%, followed by Singapore (15%), China including Hong Kong (8%), the United States (8%), and the United Kingdom (8%).
Thanks to this, New Zealand reportedly earned 405 million dollars in foreign exchange from same-sex marriage-related businesses in 2016 alone.
Currently, more than 30 countries have legalized same-sex marriage, including the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, France, Mexico, and Brazil. The Dutch parliament was the first in the world to legally recognize same-sex marriage in 2000, and since then, a wave of legalization has spread mainly across Europe and other parts of the world.
Meanwhile, a public opinion survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in June among citizens of 24 countries found that support for same-sex marriage was high in European and North American countries, while opposition was overwhelmingly strong in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
The country with the highest proportion of citizens supporting same-sex marriage was Sweden, with 92%. European countries such as the Netherlands (89%), Spain (87%), France (82%), and Germany (80%) also showed majority support. Even in Italy, where same-sex marriage is legally prohibited, support exceeded 74%.
In South Korea, opposition to same-sex marriage was 59%, higher than the support rate of 40%. Japan, like South Korea, prohibits same-sex marriage, but the support rate was high at 74%. However, the majority expressed “somewhat support” (57%) rather than “strongly support” (17%).
The only country in Asia to have legalized same-sex marriage is Taiwan. Following the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2019, Taiwan also passed a bill last May expanding adoption rights for same-sex couples.
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