Following a series of court decisions in favor of legalizing gay marriage, almost half of gay Americans can now tie the knot, according to analysis by
The Washington Post.
The Post arrived at the estimate by analyzing state-by-state population statistics of the number of people who identify as gay, and matched the numbers to the 19 states that have already legalized gay marriage.
According to Post estimates, about 4.6 million homosexuals live in states where gay marriage is legal, amounting to 43 percent of the gay population. Just under 5 million gay Americans live in states in which they are not allowed to legally marry, while another 1 million live in states where the same-sex marriage prohibition has been overturned but put on hold pending appeal.
"If you consider states that have same-sex marriage decisions on hold, that percentage is poised to pass 60 percent," the Post said.
"The past few months have shown us that the legal status of any state could change at any time, so consider this data pertinent for the early afternoon of May 14, 2014. By tomorrow morning, who knows," wrote the Post's Philip Bump.
The most recent state which
legalized gay marriage was Idaho in a decision handed down on Tuesday.
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