Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Relationship recognition policies for same-sex couples have expanded greatly throughout Europe and North America, yet little is known about their effects. Using 2007-2016 Gallup Worldwide data on European countries and variation in the timing of policy adoption across countries, we show that legal recognition of same-sex marriage (SSM) and same-sex registered domestic partnership (SSRDP) are both associated with statistically significant improvements in attitudes toward sexual minorities, with more robust effects for full marriage equality. Interestingly, we find no evidence that banning same-sex marriage significantly worsened attitudes. Effects of SSM and SSRDP policies emerge only after they are adopted, suggesting that policies cause improved attitudes (and not vice versa). These effects are unique to LGBT-related attitudes: there are no systematic associations with views about a range of other social or economic issues. Finally, we find that the relative improvements in attitudes associated with SSM and SSRDP policies are larger for groups who had more negative attitudes toward sexual minorities prior to the reforms: men, older individuals, the less educated, religious individuals, and individuals in rural areas.