Our new report examines the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of married same-sex couples. As of June 2025, there are an estimated 823,000 married couples in the U.S. This number is more than double the number of same-sex couples who were married as of June 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Obergefell case. Married couples make up the majority (59%) of cohabiting same-sex couples in the U.S.—an inflection point that began in 2016, the first full year of nationwide marriage equality.

Another new study found more than 591,000 couples have married since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell. The wedding spending by these couples and their out-of-state guests has boosted state and local economies by approximately $5.9 billion. Same-sex wedding spending has also generated an estimated $432.2 million in state and local sales tax revenue. This influx of spending was enough to support an estimated 41,300 jobs for one year.

Thank you to everyone who joined us on June 17 for our webinar on the current political and legal environment regarding LGBTQ research funding and data collection and the impact on our understanding of LGBTQ communities. If you missed the webinar, you can watch it below or on our YouTube page.

Join us for a webinar discussion with Faculty Director Cary Franklin on the Supreme Court’s recent rulings in two LGBTQ-related cases and the broader implications of these decisions.

Professor Franklin joins a panel of legal scholars to examine the meaning and implications of a broader slate of Supreme Court cases. The event is in person at UCLA's Hammer Museum.

The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law is an academic research institute dedicated to conducting rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy.