Inertia Is A Property Of Matter

There was something about how that phrase popped up randomly in the theme song to "Bill Nye, The Science Guy" that made it always stick with me.

Anyway, a new study by The Institute for Marriage and Public Policy purports to show that, even where gay marriage is legalized, many gay people are not partaking in the institution. The rate is lowest in Europe (1-5%) and highest in Massachusetts (16.7%).

The study itself does not make normative conclusions based on the data (though the IMPP is definitively anti-gay marriage). However, Minnesota Law Professor Dale Carpenter is almost definitely right to say that this information will make its way into the debate. Conservatives might use it to say that gay people don't even want gay marriage, liberals will respond that this has absolutely no bearing as to whether the small proportion that do deserve the full benefits of the institution. In any event, the classic conservative argument against gay marriage is that the change in definition alone somehow harms the institution, which is utterly divorced from the number of people who enter into the arrangement (no pun intended).

Carpenter also notes that there seems to be a correlation in the data between places that a stronger marriage culture generally, and rates of gay marriage. Marriage is a much healthier institution in Massachusetts than in Europe, and consequently gay marriage rates are far higher there. I'm not sure what it means, but it seems interesting.

I'd just add to this analysis that we might be jumping the gun a bit here. Gay marriage has been legal for a total of four years at the longest (in The Netherlands), and less than that in the one state that currently allows it in America. I think it's a bit facile to expect gay couples to immediately jump into a marriage the moment it is recognizable. The prohibition against gay marriage probably discouraged the formation of long-term, monogamous relations (not that it obliterated them, just made them less likely), and at the very least it reduced the need for the type of long-term commitment that the prospect of marriage always holds on the horizon. It shouldn't surprise us that there might be a transistion period. And of course, continued prejudice against homosexuals, a desire within the community for differentiation, and plain old cultural barriers all factor into this data. Four years simply isn't a lot of time when you're starting from point zero. After all, 35 years after Loving v. Virginia the interracial marriage rate was stuck at 2.9%. Social integration after centuries of oppression takes time.

UPDATE: Professor Carpenter explores why gay couples aren't getting married yet. I think he hits the nail on the head.