Marriage Equality Works

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By Christopher Ramos, Naomi G. Goldberg, and M.V. Lee Badgett
May 2009

May 17th, 2009 marks the 5th year of marriage equality in the state of Massachusetts. To mark this anniversary, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health conducted the largest survey to date of married same-sex couples, the Health and Marriage Equality in Massachusetts (HMEM) survey. During the past year, four other states have extended marriage to same-sex couples and several other states are considering marriage legislation. The HMEM data allows us to address important questions that arise as other states consider whether to extend marriage to same-sex couples. The data provides answers to several key questions: Who is getting married? Why are same-sex couples getting married? What impact has marriage had on same-sex relationships? And, what impact has marriage had on the children of same-sex couples?

“The untold story of how an unprecedented, years-long coordinated effort by gay rights advocates to defeat a ban on equal marriage in Massachusetts was decided in the fi nal nail-biting moments of a vote on June 14, 2007″

This is a nice read and great overview of the battle for marriage equality in Massachusetts.

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Most say they feel more committed, accepted by peers

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff | May 24, 2009

Five years after the first same-sex weddings in Massachusetts, gay and lesbian couples express deeply traditional reasons for deciding to wed and cite equally conventional benefits flowing from marriage, according to a study being released this week.

A significant majority of the 558 gay men and women surveyed said that since marrying, they feel more committed to their spouses, more accepted in their community, and more likely to be open about their sexual orientation at work.
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BOSTON - Every year, the couples who led the fight for gay marriage in Massachusetts get together privately to celebrate both their own weddings and the marriages of thousands more couples who followed them.

But this year, the celebration feels a little bit sweeter for the six couples who will gather Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of Massachusetts becoming the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. This year, they will also be celebrating the legalization of gay marriage in four other states.
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(Boston, Massachusetts) A study by a noted university think tank has found that same-sex marriage in Massachusetts has resulted in a $111 million windfall for the state’s economy.

The study was one of two by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law showing the state has significantly gained as a result of the legalization five years ago of gay marriage.
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Same-sex couples have been getting married for five years now in Massachusetts. Gary Gates of UCLA’s Williams Institute has done the number-crunching and identified intriguing economic benefits.
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May 15, 2009 - On the eve of the fifth anniversary of same-sex couples marrying in Massachusetts, two new studies released today by UCLA’s Williams Institute show clear economic gains for Massachusetts that have resulted from marriage equality. Massachusetts gained a competitive edge in attracting young, highly educated “creative class” professionals who are in same-sex couples, according to one study. The second study confirms that the weddings of same-sex couples have given a significant boost to the state’s economy.
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Five years after Massachusetts became the first state in the country to legalize gay marriage, the issue is an apparent boon for the local economy, a mundane fact of life for many citizens and a vital concern for opponents.
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PROVINCETOWN — All the flowers, cakes, invitations, tuxedos and horse-drawn carriages purchased or rented for same-sex nuptials in Massachusetts has added an estimated $111 million to the state’s economy, according to a new report from The Williams Institute at the University of California School of Law.
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by Lisa Keen, Keen News Service
2009-05-13

In the five years since gay couples started obtaining marriage licenses in the United States, 26 states have amended their constitutions to ban same-sex marriage, four state supreme courts have upheld such bans and more than 7,000 same-sex marriages have been nullified. Read the rest of this post »