SFChron: Numbers put face on (Gay Marriage) phenomenon

[Atlant]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/03/18/MNGTB5MUOI1.DTL

Numbers put face on a phenomena
Most who married are middle-aged,
have college degrees

Suzanne Herel, Rona Marech, Ilene Lelchuk, Chronicle Staff Writers



There were doctors, lawyers and -- yes -- even an Indian "tribal
chairwoman."

The 4,037 same-sex couples who obtained marriage licenses in San
Francisco hail from 46 states and eight other countries, are highly
educated, range in age from 18 to 83 but generally are middle-aged,
and represent hundreds of occupations.

That's the picture painted by demographic information released
Wednesday by the San Francisco assessor-recorder's office that
tracked the licenses issued between Feb. 12, when Mayor Gavin Newsom
gave the go-ahead to same-sex nuptials, and March 11, when the state
Supreme Court ordered them stopped.

"It really did represent, in its final composition, people from
everywhere," said Carole Migden, the lesbian chairwoman of the state
Board of Equalization who got married at San Francisco City Hall to
her longtime partner and officiated at more than 100 other same-sex
weddings. She said she wasn't surprised to find that the majority of
the couples were between the ages of 36 and 50, and that 68.8 percent
held at least a college degree.

"Many of the couples were parents. Many of the couples were older.
Who's apt to say, 'Let's throw everything down and go get married?'
-- perhaps people with a little more financial ability," Migden said.

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[Sliverofhope]

1. Also check out my thread on

gay marriage in Ancient Rome. I'll continue posting important pieces of John Boswell's research on DU as the battle for equal rights continues.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1248369