Marriage Equality Works

(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.

The state’s Supreme Judicial Court ruled in 2003 that banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and gay and lesbian couples began marrying the following year.

That made Massachusetts the state with the longest record of same-sex marriage and research over the past five years has provided an insight into what other states could expect as a result of marriage equality.

One study by the Williams Institute looked at money spent by same-sex couples at their weddings. The other examined the impact of people moving to Massachusetts because of the law.

The survey of married same-sex couples shows that the typical gay or lesbian couple spent $7,400 on their weddings in Massachusetts, with one in ten couples spending more than $20,000. The study’s analysis of state data on hotel occupancy tax payments confirms the boost from out-of-state guests at these weddings.

“Florists, caterers, hotels, bakers, restaurants, and many other businesses have gotten a share of the $111 million spent on the 12,000-plus weddings of same-sex couples,” noted economist M. V. Lee Badgett, a study co-author and director of the Center for Public Policy & Administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

“Allowing gay couples to marry won’t end the recession, but their spending still helps in tough times for businesses.”

The second study, found that Massachusetts gained a competitive edge in attracting young, highly educated “creative class” professionals who are in same-sex relationships.

“Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey show that same-sex couples in the ‘creative class’ were 2.5 times more likely to move to Massachusetts after 2004 than before,” notes Gary J. Gates, Williams Distinguished Scholar at UCLA’s Williams Institute and the author of one study.

“The timing of this movement to Massachusetts suggests that those couples were flocking to the first state to allow them to marry.” Gates argues that this infusion of younger and highly educated same-sex couples could help improve the long-term economic prospects for Massachusetts.

The findings of the two studies confirm the predictions made in previous studies. They also indicate that other states allowing gay couples to marry-including Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and Maine-will see similar economic gains the authors said.

Published on: 05.18.2009 12:15pm EDT
By 365gay Newscenter Staff

View the original article at:
http://www.365gay.com/news/study-gay-marriage-cash-cow-for-mass/