More Than 300000 Lesbian and Gay Australians Want To Marry
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
More Than 300,000 Lesbian and Gay Australians Want To
Marry
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (OUTNOW) -- NOVEMBER 29, 2011 -- The
world's largest research study into the lives of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people today released new findings
which show the number of lesbian and gay Australians that want to
marry.
The research study called LGBT2020 (www.LGBT2020.com) is undertaken by the
international specialist LGBT agency Out Now - which was originally
based in Australia and is now headquartered in The
Netherlands.
According to this research study, most gay and lesbian Australians
(56%) are currently in a relationship, with 42% living with their
same-gender partner and a further 14% being in a relationship but
not currently living together with their partner.
Confining its analysis to only those Australian respondents
currently in a relationship - the LGBT2020 research data
released today reveals that 63% of those not yet living together
hope to get married if that option becomes available to them. For
those already living together, 57% of respondents would like to
marry.
In releasing the findings, Ian Johnson, Founder and CEO of Out Now
said that the new data helps focus people's minds on what is really
at stake in discussions regarding the so-called "gay marriage"
debate in Australia.
"It is a somewhat sobering fact to contemplate that almost 350,000
people in Australia are in relationships and would like to get
married, but marriage as a legal option is not open to them," says
Johnson. "To be lesbian or gay in 2011 is just one aspect of an
individual's life and it seems hard to justify legal discrimination
against such a large number of Australian people."
According to the latest Out Now research, Australia is currently
home to 1.1 million lesbian and gay adults (aged 16 and older). Of
these 594,000 are currently in a relationship, and of these the
majority would like to get married. A total of 347,000 Australian
gays and lesbians are currently in a relationship and hope to
marry.
"The numbers suggest that those currently being discriminated
against by Australia's laws against Marriage Equality are somewhat
higher than previously estimated," says Johnson. "Our latest
analysis looked specifically at those people currently in
relationships that want to marry. When you add in those who are
currently single, the number hoping to get married jumps to more
than 600,000. As an Australian living in The Netherlands it bothers
me that so many people I meet assume Australia is the kind of
progressive country that would have already modernised its marriage
laws, when in reality it is now lagging ten years behind my adopted
country. To think I could marry here, but not at home, seems very
outdated to me."
In total, 58.4% of Australian gay and lesbian Australian research
respondents in the LGBT2020 study say they want to get married -
which accounts for 623,000 Australians who hope to marry either now
- or in the future. 6% of all research respondents (an estimated
32,000 couples in the total Australian gay and lesbian population)
indicated they have already entered into some form of civil union,
marriage or other type of commitment ceremony.
| STATUS | Hope to marry | Do not intend to ever enter Civil/Registered Partnership, or marriage | Have already | Other |
| 1. Single | 61.1% | 30.6% | 0.6% | 7.8% |
| 2. With partner, live separately | 62.6% | 29.5% | 0.5% | 7.4% |
| 3. With partner, live together | 57.0% | 26.2% | 12.1% | 4.7% |
| ALL | 58.4% | 28.5% | 6.0% | 7.0% |
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Data may be quoted freely provided the following reference citation appears in full:
"DATA SOURCE: Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study www.OutNowConsulting.com "
Out Now is a global LGBT marketing agency that has for two decades
been relied upon by the world's leading organisations to better
understand the lives and concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) people. Clients include IBM, Toyota, Lufthansa,
Qantas, German National Tourist Office, Barclays Bank, National
Australia Bank, Lloyds TSB Banking Group and Citibank. Out Now was
established in 1992 in Australia and is now headquartered in The
Hague, The Netherlands.
The 'Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study' is a ten year program
of research and is the world's most comprehensive LGBT research
project. Research is currently underway in ten languages in 25
countries, and sample sizes now exceed 50,000 respondents globally.
The Australian sample comprises 1,654 respondents. Respondents were
obtained from a diverse range of sources including social
media, online media, employee resource groups and community
organisations as well as Australian LGBT media including Sydney
Star Observer, QNews and Southern
Star.
More information is available at http://www.LGBT2020.com and http://www.OutNowConsulting.com
Total Australian gay and lesbian population estimate is based upon
Out Now analysis - utilising research data from Yankelovich MONITOR
study (1993) on sexuality and published population statistics, and
assumes that a total of 6% of adults in Australia are lesbians or
gay men.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ian Johnson
Founder and CEO, Out Now
+61-(0)2-8003 5253
info@outnowconsulting.com
www.outnowconsulting.com
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