The Cost of Same-Sex Marriage Bans
Care 2
By Cathryn Wellner
June 26, 2012
Take Part sifted data from the Williams Institute, IRS, GAO, Census Bureau, the New York Times and Forbes. The resulting infographic, designed by Column Five makes me wonder why the Chamber of Commerce isn’t campaigning for same-sex marriage, along with half of their fellow Americans.
Take a look at some of the economic benefits:
» The wedding industry would generate an additional $70 billion in revenue. That’s a lot of jobs.
» State revenues would jump, as happened in Massachusetts ($111 million in first five years of legalized same-sex marriage) and Washington ($88 million in the first three years).
On the other hand, the toll on same-sex couples in places where they are not allowed to marry should have social justice advocates picketing legislatures. For example:
» Couples who are forbidden the right to marry lose out on 1,138 federal “benefits, rights, and privileges.”
» A $60 marriage license in Cook County, Illinois, confers the same benefits and protections that a same-sex couple would have to pay $10,000 in legal fees to obtain.
Last fall the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago published research showing that acceptance of homosexuality has changed dramatically over the last forty years. In 1973, 70 percent of Americans were certain same-sex relations were “always wrong.” By 2010 that number had dropped to 43.5 percent.
The biggest differences were among the oldest and youngest people surveyed. Although only 27 percent of those 70 and older supported same-sex marriage, 64 percent of the under-30 crowd did.
Change is coming, and it is for the better.