Introduction

In the USA, 37 states and the District of Columbia had legalized same-sex marriage (SSM) via court decision or legislation before the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling legalized SSM nationwide.

Methods

With pooled cross-sections of 48,098 older adults with same-sex partners/spouses from the 2008–2019 American Community Survey and state-level policy data; we estimated the relationship between the right to marry and the presence of activity limitations. Using the 2013–2019 ACS, we also estimated the relationship between marital status itself and the presence of activity limitations.

Results

In a baseline model with demographic characteristics but without state or year fixed effects, the likelihood of activity limitations was statistically significantly lower in states where SSM had been legal for at least 5 years or where SSM had become legal at the state level relative to a state without SSM. In the presence of fixed effects, the likelihood of activity limitations was not statistically significantly associated with the duration or method of SSM policy, but men and women who were living with a same-sex spouse were less likely than their counterparts who were living with an unmarried same-sex partner to experience activity limitations.

Conclusions

Compared to their counterparts in states where SSM was not yet legal, adults living with same-sex partners/spouses were less likely to experience activity limitations if they lived in a state that had legalized SSM relatively early, but this relationship likely reflects unobservable factors that influenced both the policy environment and health of older sexual minorities. Older adults who were married to a same-sex spouse were less likely than those who cohabited with a same-sex partner to experience activity limitations, suggesting that marriage enhances health or that healthier adults are more likely to marry.

Policy Implications

Our findings suggest that favorable attitudes toward SSM, rather than the policy itself, enhance the health of older gays and lesbians. Because attitudes toward SSM can improve over time after court decisions or favorable legislation, both methods of change hold the promise of enhancing LGBTQ health.

中文翻译：

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同性关系中老年人的婚姻平等和活动限制

介绍

在美国，37 个州和哥伦比亚特区在 2015 年奥伯格费尔诉霍奇斯案裁决使同性婚姻 (SSM) 在全国范围内合法化之前，已通过法院裁决或立法使同性婚姻 (SSM) 合法化。

方法

汇总了 2008-2019 年美国社区调查和州级政策数据中 48,098 名有同性伴侣/配偶的老年人的横截面数据；我们评估了结婚权与活动限制之间的关系。使用 2013-2019 ACS，我们还估计了婚姻状况本身与活动限制之间的关系。

结果

在具有人口特征但没有州或年份固定效应的基线模型中，在 SSM 已合法至少 5 年或 SSM 在州一级相对于州而言合法的州中，活动限制的可能性在统计上显着较低没有SSM。在存在固定效应的情况下，活动限制的可能性与 SSM 政策的持续时间或方法没有统计显着相关性，但与同性配偶同住的男性和女性的可能性低于与同性配偶同住的男性和女性。未婚同性伴侣经历活动限制。

结论

与 SSM 尚未合法的州的同龄人相比，如果生活在较早将 SSM 合法化的州，与同性伴侣/配偶生活的成年人不太可能经历活动限制，但这种关系可能反映了一些不可观察的因素，影响政策环境和老年性少数群体的健康。与同性配偶结婚的老年人比与同性伴侣同居的老年人经历活动限制的可能性更小，这表明婚姻可以增强健康，或者更健康的成年人更有可能结婚。

政策影响

我们的研究结果表明，对 SSM 的有利态度，而不是政策本身，可以增强老年男女同性恋者的健康。由于在法院判决或有利的立法之后，人们对 SSM 的态度会随着时间的推移而改善，因此这两种改变方法都有望改善 LGBTQ 的健康。