A total of 1,173 same-sex marriages have been registered in Taiwan in the one month since the territory made history on May 24 by becoming the first legal jurisdiction in Asia to recognize marriage equality.

790 of the registrations were between women, and 383 between men, the Central News Agency reported, citing figures from the Ministry of the Interior.

Additionally, 28 transnational marriages between a Taiwanese and a foreign citizen were registered.

On the average, Taiwan saw 39 same-sex marriages per day over the last month, in contrast with 321 heterosexual marriages per day.

Taiwan’s first same-sex divorces

Interestingly, two of the same-sex marriages have already ended up in divorce.

According to local press reports, the first same-sex divorce was seen in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung county.

In the excitement over the passing of marriage equality laws, the male couple had rushed to tie the knot before they were actually fully ready.

In the face of heavy objection from their families, the pair had no choice but to eventually annul their marriage.

Straight vs gay divorce

Same-sex marriage first became legal in The Netherlands in 2001 and is now performed in 29 territories around the globe.

Another 17 or so countries that have not passed full marriage equality allow for either civil union or some form of registered partnerships.

Sociologists studying marriage and divorce rates now have a huge body of statistics to rely on and various notable studies have been conducted.

These studies generally agree that:

The divorce rate of same-sex marriages tends to be significantly lower than that of heterosexual marriages. One study conducted by the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles found that 2% of the total number of married straight couples get divorced, compared to about 1% of married same-sex couples.

One study conducted by the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles found that 2% of the total number of married straight couples get divorced, compared to about 1% of married same-sex couples. The divorce rate of lesbian marriages is always significantly higher, and in some cases, nearly twice than that for gay male marriages. This is consistent with the general finding that women are usually the initators of divorce in heterosexual marriages.