Fewer wed in Iowa in 2010, including same-sex couples

Fewer people were married in Iowa last year, and same-sex marriages were part of that trend, according to numbers released today by the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Same-sex marriages dropped about 10 percent, to 1,594, in 2010, the first full year they were legal in Iowa. The 1,783 same-sex marriages reported in the last nine months of 2009 – the practice was legalized in early April 2009 – may reflect heightened interest as they first became legal.

With total marriages declining slightly, the share of same-sex marriages also dropped, from 8.4 percent of 2009's total to 7.6 percent last year.

The Department of Public Health statistics are compiled from marriage licenses issued by county recorders. The department should have county-by-county breakdowns in another week, spokeswoman Polly Carver-Kimm said.

Iowa Marriage Totals

                                                 2009                 2010

Total Marriages               21,139              20,880

Opposite Gender            18,454                18,472

Same Gender                    1,783                    1,594

Gender Not Stated           902                        814