Same‐sex marriage in Asia: Understanding intra‐regional differences in development

Abstract In the last decade, legal recognition of same‐sex marriage has been rapidly developing in Asia. This article asks: what is the current state of development of same‐sex marriage across Asian societies? What explains the development of same‐sex marriage seen in some Asian societies but not others? It finds that demographic explanations are least able to explain intra‐regional differences in the development of same‐sex marriage in Asia, while economic, institutional, and cultural explanations are able to partly explain the development in different parts of Asia. The article proposes that an eclectic combination of economic, institutional, and cultural explanations is needed to understand intra‐regional differences in the development of same‐sex marriage in Asia. The analysis provides useful pointers for observing future development of same‐sex marriage in Asia. Studying same‐sex marriage provides a useful lens for studying economic, institutional, and cultural issues in Asia.