Legalising gay marriage caused dramatic fall in suicides across Sweden and Denmark, study finds

Being allowed to marry has led to a drop in the number of gay men and lesbians taking their own lives in two Scandinavian countries, according to a study.

A 46 per cent fall in suicides among people in same-sex marriages was recorded by comparing two time periods in Denmark and Sweden – from 1989 to 2002, and 2003 to 2016.

Researchers said that reduced stigma around homosexual relationships was likely to be among the reasons for the drop.

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“Being married is protective against suicide,” said Annette Erlangsen of the Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention. “Legalising same-sex marriage and other supportive legislative measures – they might actually reduce stigma around sexual minorities.”

Same-sex marriage was made legal in 2009 in Sweden and 2012 in Denmark. The unions are now legal in 27 countries, 16 of them in Europe. Ecuador became the latest nation to permit them, in June this year.

Shape Created with Sketch. 50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them Show all 50 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. 50 years of Stonewall: 50 LGBT+ people on what it means to them 1/50 Billie Jean King, athlete ‘When I heard about Stonewall, I remember feeling just like the famous line in the movie Network – "I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more." Standing up for our community and advocating for ourselves was powerful then and it is powerful now.’ AFP/Getty 2/50 Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, activist ‘I think what we can learn from the uprising is everything we’ve learned after it: until the most marginalised among us are free, none of us are free.’ Sarah Jeynes 3/50 Courtney Act, performer ‘Resist. That’s what the people at the Stonewall Inn did that fateful night in 1969. They resisted arrest and the status quo because they knew that their right to love and exist was equal to their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts.’ Getty 4/50 Munroe Bergdorf, activist ‘Growing up I just did not see myself reflected within the history books. But when I found out that it was Marsh P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two transgender women of colour, who kicked off the Stonewall riots which lead to the gay rights movement... If filled me with pride.’ Getty/NYFW: The Shows 5/50 Stephen Fry, actor ‘I think perhaps the most glorious fact of the Stonewall riots is that it was the queens, the camp, glitzy queens who saw off the police that night in Greenwich Village. Years of mockery in the streets, being jostled, spat at, arrested and pushed off the sidewalk had toughened them up.’ PA 6/50 Isis King, model ‘Trans women of colour have always stood at the forefront of this movement. Some try to erase the legacies but it’s still apparent in today’s climate that trans women are as bold as ever.’ Getty/GLAAD 7/50 Matt Lucas, actor ‘I am eternally grateful to those who fought for the recognition of gay identity at a time when society saw it only in crude sexual terms. Stonewall was about the freedom to love without fear.’ PA 8/50 Ruth Hunt, CEO of Stonewall ‘We named ourselves after this historic moment and we continue to honour those involved by naming the meeting rooms in our London office after some of the leaders, including a lesbian woman of colour called Storme DeLarverie and two trans women of colour, Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson.’ Andy Tyler 9/50 Rikki Beadle-Blair, creator and performer ‘I put my heart and soul into the script for Stonewall. And they’re all there: the butches, the fems, the blacks and hispanics and whites. The middle-class activists. The street queens. The homeless queer kids. And they are still here, with us in every battle we still have to fight.’ Gary Beadle 10/50 Christopher Smith, MP ‘It laid the foundation for all the campaigns for LGBT+ equality that followed: against Section 28, for an equal age of consent, for equal access to services, for equal marriage, for justice around the world in the face of hostility and violence and bigotry.’ Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament 11/50 Mhairi Black, politician ‘The Stonewall riots were the spark that galvanised the LGBT+ community to organise in support for our rights. From homosexuality being a criminal offence, to a law requiring a person to be wearing at least three items of “gender appropriate” clothing, 1969 was a dangerous time to be queer.’ PA 12/50 Shon Faye, writer and comedian ‘While important, I wish 28 June 1969 wasn’t held up as the single moment where LGBT+ history starts, particularly in Britain, where LGBT+ people’s political emergence has its own fascinating history.’ Random Acts 13/50 Peter Tachell, activist ‘Since Stonewall, the LGBT+ movement has gone global; liberating hundreds of millions of people; though hundreds of millions more live in the 68 countries that still outlaw same-sex relations. The Stonewall revolution is not yet over.’ PA 14/50 Tamal Ray, baker and doctor ‘Would I have had the bravery and the fury, to do what did they did that night? Maybe. Maybe not. But I’m here today. And having grown up under the bullshit of section 28 I’m so aware of how lucky I am to have the rights and protections I do.’ Rex 15/50 Owen Jones, writer ‘In the midst of a growing homophobic and transphobic backlash against victories won by LGBT+ people, we need to re-invigorate a radical queer movement with demands ranging from reforming the Gender Recognition Act to reversing cuts to LGBT+ services, to properly funding mental health.’ PA 16/50 Ruth Davidson, politician ‘Those rights and that acceptance, which have been hard-won over the last 50 years, are still fragile. LGBT+ people are still subject to hate crimes. Bosses can still be unsure over points of employment law. Prejudice persists. The fight continues.’ PA 17/50 Shahmir Sanni, whistleblower and digital strategist ‘In the UK, Stonewall collaborating with UKBlackPride and LGBT+ activists reaching out to marginalised communities with a significant focus on BAME sexual health is a giant leap forward for all of us.’ Rex 18/50 Travis Alabanza, performer and activist ‘It reminds us that our change and progress will never be made in just books, or just on our screens, or just in theory - but always in practice, on the streets, together.’ Tim P Whitby/Getty/Free Word 19/50 Ashley C Ford, writer ‘The stories of Marsha P Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and others have been carried though time by some of our most marginalised communities, beautifully and with all the reverence they deserve.’ Paul Jun 20/50 Michael Cashman, politician, actor and co-founder of Stonewall ‘For me it signifies the moment of fighting back when the straw finally breaks the camel‘s back. That happened here in the United Kingdom when the Thatcher government introduced Section 28 in the middle of the Aids and HIV crisis being faced by the gay community.’ Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament 21/50 Sarah McBride, political activist ‘It is a legacy of solidarity across diversity and difference. It is a legacy of how a single act and a moment can have ripple effects for generations to come.’ Sarah McBride 22/50 Francis Lee, filmmaker ‘I was born in the year of the Stonewall riots and through my lifetime so much has changed. Its a time to thank and celebrate the working-class queer people of colour, the heroic trans people, the drag queens, the fem guys, the butch dykes who fought for their rights to be who they are.’ PA 23/50 Ben Hunte, journalist ‘Until we have queer history taught properly within our schools, and until media organisations report on our lives with care, I hope that we can come together as a community and share our knowledge, so that our heroes are never forgotten.’ BBC 24/50 Charlie Craggs, activist ‘Trans people, especially trans women of colour, need you to fight for them they way they fought for your rights 50 years ago.’ Great Big Story 25/50 Lea DeLaria, actor and comedian ‘That riot, what I saw, my people fighting back, is the reason I have always been out and proud.’ Getty/AEG 26/50 Ryan Atkin, football referee ‘Now, more than ever, we must stand firm as the tide of tolerance turns against us in many places, in an effort to undo the hard-won victories of the last few decades.’ Rex 27/50 Leo Kaylan, musician ‘We need that spirit of solidarity now more than ever, especially for trans people and queer people of colour - especially seeing what’s happening in places like Chechnya and Brunei.’ Leo Kalyan 28/50 Phillip Picardi , journalist and editor-in-chief of OUT magazine ‘This year, celebration may be a part of Pride – but what we really need is the rebirth of a movement, led by the very folks who have consistently been left behind.’ Getty 29/50 Juno Dawson, author ‘On that date in New York, lesbians, gay men, trans people (although they wouldn’t have used that term) and all manner of queer people came together as a unified community and said no to state-sanctioned police brutality.’ edbookfest 30/50 Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, activist ‘A global rise in extremism and nationalism makes our hard-fought victories vulnerable to attacks and setbacks. It serves to push back even harder and negate the strides we have already made.’ Kaleidoscope Trust/Eivind Hansen 31/50 Jide Macaulay, pastor and activist ‘As a black African British gay Christian living with HIV, it’s a reminder of the continuous fight for inclusion, liberation and diversity, to be respected for who I am and who I love.’ Pride in London/YouTube 32/50 Scottee, performer ‘Will those corporations be aligned with us once the parade inevitably turns back to a protest?’ Rex 33/50 Joleen Mataele, activist ‘Stonewall was the founding legend that we all learn from and we must stand tall as one community and one voice so we can pave the way for the new generations.’ Kaleidoscope Trust 34/50 Lady Bunny, performer ‘Trump and other emerging nationalists worldwide tend to hold a dim view of gay people. So we must our fight back and fight less amongst ourselves on more minor issues.’ Getty/Tribeca Film Festival 35/50 Damian Barr, author ‘News that there is to be a straight pride parade made me feel like rioting like it’s June 28 1969 all over again. But straight people don’t need Pride because they weren’t born into a culture that shames their very existence.’ Bloomsbury 36/50 Mandu Reid, Women’s Equality Party leader ‘As a bisexual black woman, I owe many of the freedoms I enjoy today to those who stood up to injustice during the Stonewall riots in 1969.’ 37/50 Jake Graf, actor and writer ‘When I transitioned I wanted to understand more about our specific transgender history and felt great pride upon learning that the Stonewall riots happened as a result of courageous and outspoken trans women, mostly of colour.’ PA 38/50 Lisa Power, co-founder of Stonewall ‘We named Stonewall here in the UK so that, no matter how “respectable” we became, we never forgot that we started with a riot.’ Ardent Theatre Company 39/50 Matthew Todd, author and journalist ‘When a lesbian, we think Stormé DeLarverie, a woman of colour, was being arrested, she yelled to the crowd, “Why don’t you guys do something?” Her brothers and sisters – white, black, gay, bi, lesbian, trans, butch, femme – did do something and came to her aid. That’s incredibly inspiring to me.’ Rex 40/50 Amrou Al-Kadhi, performer ‘The pervasiveness of the glossy rainbow flag during Pride can lull us into a sense of inaction. But as we've seen over the past month of protests, attacks and media, violence and violations against gay and trans people has not gone away.’ NowThis 41/50 Joseph Galliano, CEO and co-founder of the Queer Britain Museum ‘Who threw the first punch is not the most important question, it’s what activists did with that pent up anger and frustration, over the long haul that made all the difference to so many lives.’ dear16yearoldme 42/50 George M Johnson, Writer ‘It's important to remember the black and brown trans and queer people who led the riots on those six nights, and how our community is still fighting many of those same battles.’ Gioncarlo Valentine 43/50 Glynn Fussel, performer and creator ‘I'm more concerned about my brothers and sisters in other countries who don't have the rights that we have. Every single day we should remember the fights that came before us.’ Sink the Pink 44/50 Elizabeth Barker, politician ‘Small towns now celebrate their LGBT citizens and the police are no longer hostile. That is progress of which we should all be proud.’ Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament 45/50 CN Lester, author ‘What matters most to me about Stonewall was that it was one protest of many, one moment in time across decades of rebellion, building community, making our mark.’ BBC 46/50 Andrew Lumsden, journalist and activist ‘The uprising brought us the word “gay”. When it crossed the Atlantic to us in 1970 as the Gay Liberation Front, which I promptly joined, none of us had ever before used the word in the sense of sexual orientation. And I'm glad we did.’ 47/50 Jamie Windust, writer ‘The stonewall riots were not only a moment in time and history, but a real signal that we are not a community that is to stay quiet and remain silenced.’ PA 48/50 Amelia Abraham, author ‘However we should remember that there are so many stories of queer join, pain, struggle and victory out there to be discovered, if we take the time to look for them.’ Ted 49/50 Henry Holland, fashion designer ‘While many of us feel safe and accepted, Pride is about remembering that there are still people in the world who don’t. Until that day we need to keep pushing for total equality and acceptance for the whole of the LGBT+ community.’ PA 50/50 Carrie Lyell, journalist and editor-in-chief of DIVA magazine ‘What I know about Stonewall, I had to scrape together myself. So today, as editor of DIVA magazine, I feel I have a duty to keep the spirit and the stories of that night alive so those growing up don't need to hunt as I did.’ Agemi 1/50 Billie Jean King, athlete ‘When I heard about Stonewall, I remember feeling just like the famous line in the movie Network – "I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more." Standing up for our community and advocating for ourselves was powerful then and it is powerful now.’ AFP/Getty 2/50 Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, activist ‘I think what we can learn from the uprising is everything we’ve learned after it: until the most marginalised among us are free, none of us are free.’ Sarah Jeynes 3/50 Courtney Act, performer ‘Resist. That’s what the people at the Stonewall Inn did that fateful night in 1969. They resisted arrest and the status quo because they knew that their right to love and exist was equal to their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts.’ Getty 4/50 Munroe Bergdorf, activist ‘Growing up I just did not see myself reflected within the history books. But when I found out that it was Marsh P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two transgender women of colour, who kicked off the Stonewall riots which lead to the gay rights movement... If filled me with pride.’ Getty/NYFW: The Shows 5/50 Stephen Fry, actor ‘I think perhaps the most glorious fact of the Stonewall riots is that it was the queens, the camp, glitzy queens who saw off the police that night in Greenwich Village. Years of mockery in the streets, being jostled, spat at, arrested and pushed off the sidewalk had toughened them up.’ PA 6/50 Isis King, model ‘Trans women of colour have always stood at the forefront of this movement. Some try to erase the legacies but it’s still apparent in today’s climate that trans women are as bold as ever.’ Getty/GLAAD 7/50 Matt Lucas, actor ‘I am eternally grateful to those who fought for the recognition of gay identity at a time when society saw it only in crude sexual terms. Stonewall was about the freedom to love without fear.’ PA 8/50 Ruth Hunt, CEO of Stonewall ‘We named ourselves after this historic moment and we continue to honour those involved by naming the meeting rooms in our London office after some of the leaders, including a lesbian woman of colour called Storme DeLarverie and two trans women of colour, Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson.’ Andy Tyler 9/50 Rikki Beadle-Blair, creator and performer ‘I put my heart and soul into the script for Stonewall. And they’re all there: the butches, the fems, the blacks and hispanics and whites. The middle-class activists. The street queens. The homeless queer kids. And they are still here, with us in every battle we still have to fight.’ Gary Beadle 10/50 Christopher Smith, MP ‘It laid the foundation for all the campaigns for LGBT+ equality that followed: against Section 28, for an equal age of consent, for equal access to services, for equal marriage, for justice around the world in the face of hostility and violence and bigotry.’ Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament 11/50 Mhairi Black, politician ‘The Stonewall riots were the spark that galvanised the LGBT+ community to organise in support for our rights. From homosexuality being a criminal offence, to a law requiring a person to be wearing at least three items of “gender appropriate” clothing, 1969 was a dangerous time to be queer.’ PA 12/50 Shon Faye, writer and comedian ‘While important, I wish 28 June 1969 wasn’t held up as the single moment where LGBT+ history starts, particularly in Britain, where LGBT+ people’s political emergence has its own fascinating history.’ Random Acts 13/50 Peter Tachell, activist ‘Since Stonewall, the LGBT+ movement has gone global; liberating hundreds of millions of people; though hundreds of millions more live in the 68 countries that still outlaw same-sex relations. The Stonewall revolution is not yet over.’ PA 14/50 Tamal Ray, baker and doctor ‘Would I have had the bravery and the fury, to do what did they did that night? Maybe. Maybe not. But I’m here today. And having grown up under the bullshit of section 28 I’m so aware of how lucky I am to have the rights and protections I do.’ Rex 15/50 Owen Jones, writer ‘In the midst of a growing homophobic and transphobic backlash against victories won by LGBT+ people, we need to re-invigorate a radical queer movement with demands ranging from reforming the Gender Recognition Act to reversing cuts to LGBT+ services, to properly funding mental health.’ PA 16/50 Ruth Davidson, politician ‘Those rights and that acceptance, which have been hard-won over the last 50 years, are still fragile. LGBT+ people are still subject to hate crimes. Bosses can still be unsure over points of employment law. Prejudice persists. The fight continues.’ PA 17/50 Shahmir Sanni, whistleblower and digital strategist ‘In the UK, Stonewall collaborating with UKBlackPride and LGBT+ activists reaching out to marginalised communities with a significant focus on BAME sexual health is a giant leap forward for all of us.’ Rex 18/50 Travis Alabanza, performer and activist ‘It reminds us that our change and progress will never be made in just books, or just on our screens, or just in theory - but always in practice, on the streets, together.’ Tim P Whitby/Getty/Free Word 19/50 Ashley C Ford, writer ‘The stories of Marsha P Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and others have been carried though time by some of our most marginalised communities, beautifully and with all the reverence they deserve.’ Paul Jun 20/50 Michael Cashman, politician, actor and co-founder of Stonewall ‘For me it signifies the moment of fighting back when the straw finally breaks the camel‘s back. That happened here in the United Kingdom when the Thatcher government introduced Section 28 in the middle of the Aids and HIV crisis being faced by the gay community.’ Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament 21/50 Sarah McBride, political activist ‘It is a legacy of solidarity across diversity and difference. It is a legacy of how a single act and a moment can have ripple effects for generations to come.’ Sarah McBride 22/50 Francis Lee, filmmaker ‘I was born in the year of the Stonewall riots and through my lifetime so much has changed. Its a time to thank and celebrate the working-class queer people of colour, the heroic trans people, the drag queens, the fem guys, the butch dykes who fought for their rights to be who they are.’ PA 23/50 Ben Hunte, journalist ‘Until we have queer history taught properly within our schools, and until media organisations report on our lives with care, I hope that we can come together as a community and share our knowledge, so that our heroes are never forgotten.’ BBC 24/50 Charlie Craggs, activist ‘Trans people, especially trans women of colour, need you to fight for them they way they fought for your rights 50 years ago.’ Great Big Story 25/50 Lea DeLaria, actor and comedian ‘That riot, what I saw, my people fighting back, is the reason I have always been out and proud.’ Getty/AEG 26/50 Ryan Atkin, football referee ‘Now, more than ever, we must stand firm as the tide of tolerance turns against us in many places, in an effort to undo the hard-won victories of the last few decades.’ Rex 27/50 Leo Kaylan, musician ‘We need that spirit of solidarity now more than ever, especially for trans people and queer people of colour - especially seeing what’s happening in places like Chechnya and Brunei.’ Leo Kalyan 28/50 Phillip Picardi , journalist and editor-in-chief of OUT magazine ‘This year, celebration may be a part of Pride – but what we really need is the rebirth of a movement, led by the very folks who have consistently been left behind.’ Getty 29/50 Juno Dawson, author ‘On that date in New York, lesbians, gay men, trans people (although they wouldn’t have used that term) and all manner of queer people came together as a unified community and said no to state-sanctioned police brutality.’ edbookfest 30/50 Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, activist ‘A global rise in extremism and nationalism makes our hard-fought victories vulnerable to attacks and setbacks. It serves to push back even harder and negate the strides we have already made.’ Kaleidoscope Trust/Eivind Hansen 31/50 Jide Macaulay, pastor and activist ‘As a black African British gay Christian living with HIV, it’s a reminder of the continuous fight for inclusion, liberation and diversity, to be respected for who I am and who I love.’ Pride in London/YouTube 32/50 Scottee, performer ‘Will those corporations be aligned with us once the parade inevitably turns back to a protest?’ Rex 33/50 Joleen Mataele, activist ‘Stonewall was the founding legend that we all learn from and we must stand tall as one community and one voice so we can pave the way for the new generations.’ Kaleidoscope Trust 34/50 Lady Bunny, performer ‘Trump and other emerging nationalists worldwide tend to hold a dim view of gay people. So we must our fight back and fight less amongst ourselves on more minor issues.’ Getty/Tribeca Film Festival 35/50 Damian Barr, author ‘News that there is to be a straight pride parade made me feel like rioting like it’s June 28 1969 all over again. But straight people don’t need Pride because they weren’t born into a culture that shames their very existence.’ Bloomsbury 36/50 Mandu Reid, Women’s Equality Party leader ‘As a bisexual black woman, I owe many of the freedoms I enjoy today to those who stood up to injustice during the Stonewall riots in 1969.’ 37/50 Jake Graf, actor and writer ‘When I transitioned I wanted to understand more about our specific transgender history and felt great pride upon learning that the Stonewall riots happened as a result of courageous and outspoken trans women, mostly of colour.’ PA 38/50 Lisa Power, co-founder of Stonewall ‘We named Stonewall here in the UK so that, no matter how “respectable” we became, we never forgot that we started with a riot.’ Ardent Theatre Company 39/50 Matthew Todd, author and journalist ‘When a lesbian, we think Stormé DeLarverie, a woman of colour, was being arrested, she yelled to the crowd, “Why don’t you guys do something?” Her brothers and sisters – white, black, gay, bi, lesbian, trans, butch, femme – did do something and came to her aid. That’s incredibly inspiring to me.’ Rex 40/50 Amrou Al-Kadhi, performer ‘The pervasiveness of the glossy rainbow flag during Pride can lull us into a sense of inaction. But as we've seen over the past month of protests, attacks and media, violence and violations against gay and trans people has not gone away.’ NowThis 41/50 Joseph Galliano, CEO and co-founder of the Queer Britain Museum ‘Who threw the first punch is not the most important question, it’s what activists did with that pent up anger and frustration, over the long haul that made all the difference to so many lives.’ dear16yearoldme 42/50 George M Johnson, Writer ‘It's important to remember the black and brown trans and queer people who led the riots on those six nights, and how our community is still fighting many of those same battles.’ Gioncarlo Valentine 43/50 Glynn Fussel, performer and creator ‘I'm more concerned about my brothers and sisters in other countries who don't have the rights that we have. Every single day we should remember the fights that came before us.’ Sink the Pink 44/50 Elizabeth Barker, politician ‘Small towns now celebrate their LGBT citizens and the police are no longer hostile. That is progress of which we should all be proud.’ Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament 45/50 CN Lester, author ‘What matters most to me about Stonewall was that it was one protest of many, one moment in time across decades of rebellion, building community, making our mark.’ BBC 46/50 Andrew Lumsden, journalist and activist ‘The uprising brought us the word “gay”. When it crossed the Atlantic to us in 1970 as the Gay Liberation Front, which I promptly joined, none of us had ever before used the word in the sense of sexual orientation. And I'm glad we did.’ 47/50 Jamie Windust, writer ‘The stonewall riots were not only a moment in time and history, but a real signal that we are not a community that is to stay quiet and remain silenced.’ PA 48/50 Amelia Abraham, author ‘However we should remember that there are so many stories of queer join, pain, struggle and victory out there to be discovered, if we take the time to look for them.’ Ted 49/50 Henry Holland, fashion designer ‘While many of us feel safe and accepted, Pride is about remembering that there are still people in the world who don’t. Until that day we need to keep pushing for total equality and acceptance for the whole of the LGBT+ community.’ PA 50/50 Carrie Lyell, journalist and editor-in-chief of DIVA magazine ‘What I know about Stonewall, I had to scrape together myself. So today, as editor of DIVA magazine, I feel I have a duty to keep the spirit and the stories of that night alive so those growing up don't need to hunt as I did.’ Agemi

However, people in same-sex marriages still took their own lives at more than twice the rate of those in heterosexual unions across both periods, reinforcing research from other countries that points to a higher incidence of suicide attempts among LGBT+ people.

Young LGBT+ people are at least three times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers, according to 35 studies from 10 countries collated by researchers in 2018.

Dr Erlangsen’s study, which followed more than 28,000 people in same-sex unions for an average of 11 years, found married lesbians were 2.8 times as likely to die by suicide as women in straight marriages, and slightly more likely than straight, married men. Men in gay partnerships were most likely to kill themselves.

“There still remains a considerable degree of homophobia, particularly against male homosexuals,” said Morten Frisch, of Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut, a research body. “Just under one in three men still consider it morally unacceptable that two men have sex with each other,” he said, citing a survey of more than 62,000 Danes released in October.

Additional reporting by the Thomson Reuters Foundation