What sexual orientation population has the least divorce
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Executive summary
A consistent pattern in the research reviewed is that male same-sex (gay) marriages tend to have the lowest divorce rates, while female same-sex (lesbian) marriages show the highest dissolution risk; heterosexual couples generally fall between those two extremes, though estimates vary by study and country [1] [2] [3]. Important caveats—limited national reporting, short legal histories for same-sex marriage in many places, and differing methods across countries—mean the conclusion is provisional rather than definitive [4] [5].
1. The headline: gay male couples most likely to have the least divorces
Multiple studies and reviews report that marriages between two men register lower divorce rates than marriages between two women or mixed-sex couples, with some datasets showing gay male divorce rates even below comparable heterosexual rates [1] [3] [6]. Country-level register studies in Scandinavia and other analyses repeatedly find that male same-sex unions dissolve less often than female same-sex unions; for example, Norway and Sweden data have shown gay male marriages to be considerably more stable than lesbian marriages [1] [2].
2. Where lesbian couples sit in the statistics and why researchers flag higher risk
Across several national and register-based studies, marriages between two women demonstrate a higher divorce risk—sometimes substantially higher—than both gay male and opposite-sex marriages, a pattern observed in research from Norway, Sweden, Finland and other sources [1] [2] [7]. Researchers propose multiple explanations including gendered patterns in divorce initiation, different social expectations, minority stress affecting female couples, and socioeconomic or religious variables that modestly explain elevated risk among female couples [2] [8] [7].
3. Heterosexual couples: middle of the road but dependent on measurement
Heterosexual divorce rates are often reported between the extremes of same-sex subgroups; some studies find overall same-sex divorce comparable to opposite-sex divorce, while others place heterosexuals between gay men (lower) and lesbians (higher) [9] [6]. National trends also matter: for example, official statistics in England and Wales show heterosexual divorce at historically low levels in recent years, underscoring that broader social shifts affect all marriages [1].
4. Data gaps, methodological traps and why “least divorce” isn’t absolute
A major limitation is incomplete or inconsistent reporting: U.S. federal divorce tracking does not consistently disaggregate by couple sex, and many studies rely on country registers or specialized samples that aren’t directly comparable across jurisdictions [4] [5]. Same-sex marriage is a relatively recent legal institution in many places, producing shorter follow-up windows and potential selection effects—early same-sex marriages may have different characteristics than later ones, which complicates long-term comparisons [5] [10].
5. Nuance: cohabitation history, parenthood, income, religion, and selection effects
Newer studies show that relationship history before marriage (for example, years of cohabitation) strongly affects divorce risk in same-sex couples—longer prior cohabitation is linked to lower annual divorce risk, and differential childbearing patterns also shape stability metrics [7]. Research from Finland and elsewhere identifies roles for income, religious affiliation, intermarriage, and unobserved minority stress in explaining variance across groups, indicating the drivers are socioeconomic and cultural as much as purely sexual-orientation–based [2].
6. Bottom line and responsible caveat
On balance, the weight of peer-reviewed register studies and multiple reviews indicates that gay male couples currently show the lowest divorce rates among sexual-orientation groups examined, lesbians show the highest, and heterosexual couples typically lie between those poles—but the evidence is qualified by data limitations, evolving legal contexts, and study designs that differ across countries [1] [2] [3] [4]. Any definitive ranking must await more comprehensive, standardized, and longer-term data—especially for bisexual and other orientations that are poorly represented in existing datasets [3] [4].