76,000 Legally Married Same-Sex Couples Live in States that Recognize Their Marriages

Of the nation’s approximately 114,000 legally married same-sex couples, the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute estimates that 76,000 couples live in states that recognize their marriages. While the remaining 38,000 couples may have married in a jurisdiction that extends marriage to same-sex couples, they no longer reside in a state that recognizes their union. 

“Yesterday’s rulings in United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry have significant implications for the approximate 650,000 same-sex couples in the Unites States, 22 percent of whom are raising children,” said Williams Distinguished Scholar Gary Gates. “The ruling in Perry will open marriage to a same-sex spouse for California’s estimated 1.1 million LGBT adults and nearly 200,000 individuals who are already part of a same-sex couple.”

Prior to today’s ruling, 18 percent of the entire U.S. population and 22 percent of same-sex couples lived in the 12 states, and the District of Columbia, where same-sex couples can legally marry. By adding California, 30 percent of the entire U.S. population and 37 percent of same-sex couples will now live in states that extend marriage to same-sex couples.