The US Supreme Court's landmark decision that same-sex couples anywhere in the country have a right to marry could improve the health of gay, lesbian and bisexual people, experts say.
"We know that marriage does enhance people's health," said Richard Wight, a community health researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Health.
"Now, there's the potential for marriage to enhance the health of sexual monitories in the same way it does for heterosexual people," Wight said.
A recent study conducted by Wight and colleagues found that sexual monitories who were in same-sex marriages were no different than married heterosexuals in terms of their general level of psychological stress.
In contrast, people who were lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) and who were in relationships that were not legally recognised had the highest levels of psychological distress, 'Live Science' reported.
The right to marriage may have the potential to offset differences in mental health between sexual monitories and heterosexuals, Wight said.
Another study by Wight and colleagues found that same-sex couples who are married have lower rates of tobacco use than those who are not married, a finding that is true of married heterosexuals as well.
A previous study by researchers from the University of Kentucky and the University of Memphis surveyed more than 2,600 people who were lesbian, gay or bisexual.
The researchers found that those who were in legally recognised relationships - marriages, civil unions or registered domestic partnerships - reported lower levels of stress, fewer depressive symptoms and more meaning in their lives than those who were in committed relationships that did not have a legal status.
"Cohabiting doesn't seem to give you the same improvements in health, or protections for health that marriage does," said Dr Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
"Thanks to this ruling, same-sex couples can now enjoy health benefits of marriage equal to those of opposite-sex couples," he said.
Wight noted that because same-sex marriage has been legally recognised only recently, more studies are needed that follow people over time to see whether it is marriage itself that leads to better health for these couples, or if healthier people tend to be the ones to get married.
In a landmark ruling on Friday, the US Supreme Court said that the Constitution requires all 50 states to carry out and recognise marriages between people of the same sex.
