![Nom_tour1](https://www.advocate.com/media-library/nom-tour1.jpg?id=32722584&width=1200&height=876)
CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
COMMENTARY: This summer's news has focused on two hot issues: new concerns about a double-dip recession and Judge Vaughn Walker's decision overturning California's Proposition 8. In a jarring display of confused facts and logic, the National Organization for Marriage's antigay tour has brought those two issues together.
On the recent Iowa stop of the NOM tour, Concerned Women for America spokesperson Tamara Scott laid the blame for the social cost of "fragmented families" at the feet of allegedly unstable gay couples raising children. "It costs you, the taxpayer, as high as $280 billion a year for fragmented families," she warned the (small) group at the rally. Her argument suggested that one way to help the struggling economy would be to stop the formation of the fragmented gay families that are doing harm to themselves, their children, and U.S. taxpayers by their mere existence. In essence, she's arguing that stopping gay marriage in Iowa could help the economy.
That logic turns the actual relationship between marriage equality and the economy upside down. For one thing, many gay couples want the right to marry because they see marriage as a way to enhance their commitment to each other. So having the right to marry would actually increase the likelihood that same-sex couples would stay together (with or without kids), just as marriage does for different-sex couples. If stability saves taxpayers money, then taxpayers should favor marriage equality.
More to the point, giving gay couples the right to marry would have a direct positive effect on the economy in many ways. More than 20 studies of marriage equality's impact on state and federal budgets have unanimously concluded that those budgets would see a boost. The Congressional Budget Office, budget analysts in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, as well as studies by the Williams Institute, all agree that marriage equality would save states money--which most states desperately need in this economy.
Businesses would also gain from the weddings of same-sex couples. Our research finds that gay and lesbian couples spend thousands of dollars on their weddings, and those celebrations draw people from out-of-state to spend even more. We estimate that Massachusetts businesses got a boost of more than $100 million in the first few years of gay couples' weddings. Most of the beneficiaries are small businesses that are really feeling the economic pinch, including photographers, wedding planners, caterers, bakeries, and hotels. Gay marriage is helping to keep those businesses afloat in Iowa, Washington, D.C.; and New England.
In contrast to the twisted logic presented by NOM, Judge Vaughn Walker's decision overturning Prop. 8 provides an excellent model for bringing facts into the debate about giving same-sex couples the right to marry. That trial demonstrated the economic harms of Prop 8 to gay couples and to state and local governments. Prop 8 cost California businesses hundreds of millions of dollars. Those who care about taxpayers and the health of families will find marriage equality supports both of those goals.
M. V. Lee Badgett is the Research Director of the Williams Institute at UCLA. She is also a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.This article is the opinion of the writer and not The Advocate.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
After 20 years, and after tonight, Obama will no longer be the Democrats' top star
August 20 2024 12:28 PM
More Than 50 of Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Moms
May 12 2024 11:44 AM
Conjoined twins Lori Schappell and trans man George Schappell dead at 62
April 27 2024 6:13 PM
Latest Stories
Here are the 25 transgender Americans lost to violence so far this year
September 04 2024 3:35 PM
Ben Platt marries Noah Galvin in New York celebration
September 04 2024 3:15 PM
53 years ago, Jack Baker and Michael McConnell became the first same-sex couple to wed
September 04 2024 2:27 PM
Even Republicans are against Tennessee’s trans health ban
September 04 2024 1:05 PM
And they're off! 8 things to watch for as the 2024 presidential election kicks into high gear
September 04 2024 10:00 AM
Tim Walz to honor LGBTQ+ community at Human Rights Campaign National Dinner (exclusive)
September 04 2024 9:00 AM
A Virginia college bans transgender students — based on language from the year 1900
September 04 2024 5:39 AM
Harris campaign, others call out Trump for holding events in towns with racist histories
September 04 2024 4:57 AM
Candace Owens claims TikTok makes men gay and causes women to hate them
September 03 2024 6:27 PM
16 LGBTQ+ movies & TV shows to watch in September 2024
September 03 2024 4:21 PM
Transphobic Texas Democrat finds home for bigotry in state Republican Party
September 03 2024 4:07 PM
Trans sprinter Valentina Petrillo loses at Paralympics, then delivers heartfelt message to her son
September 03 2024 3:54 PM