The cost of being gay
Can we put a credible price tag on being in a same-sex relationship versus a heterosexual marriage?
A gay couple marries in California.
(Aurora Photos/Corbis/Mallams & Butler)
The debate over gay marriage has long “focused on God and Scripture, the Constitution, and equal protection,” said Tara Siegel Bernard and Ron Lieber in The New York Times. But there’s also a financial cost. Looking at factors such as health insurance, Social Security, taxes, and pensions, we calculated “a couple’s lifetime cost of being gay”—in the best case for our average gay couple, it cost $41,196; in the worst case, $467,562.
Finally, an analysis of the “financial discrimination” we gay couples face, said Andrew Sullivan in The Atlantic. This is not some “abstract issue,” and if the shoe were on the other foot, “no heterosexual would tolerate—or even imagining tolerating—it.” Besides, since the government’s anti-gay-marriage policies “encourage gay people not to form stable, lasting relationships,” they also have a big societal cost.
“I’ve always supported gay marriage myself,” said Wisconsin law professor Ann Althouse in her blog, but the Times’ analysis merits some skepticism. Their average couple earns $140,000 a year, and their analysis really applies to all unmarried couples, not just gay couples. Also, it oversells the financial benefits of marriage and neglects to mention “the risk of needing a divorce, and that can be tremendously expensive.”
The Times article also neglects “a much bigger issue”—the 43 percent of the adult population that’s single, said Bella DePaulo in Psychology Today. “Singles are shortchanged” in all the same ways that gay couples are, but they also subsidize the “perks” enjoyed by all couples, gay or straight: club memberships, vacation packages, car insurance, to name a few.
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8 Comments
Posted by tim, Monday, October 5, 2009, 2:00 pm The State's involvement in ANY marriage is a nonissue.
Posted by I'm just sayin'..., Monday, October 5, 2009, 3:17 pm I absolutely agree with you, tim... Our elected representatives have bigger fish to fry without inserting government mandates into their constituents' personal relationships. If I were gay or lesbian in America I would categorically refuse to pay another dime in federal income taxes until I received equal protection under the law. Which gays and lesbians currently don't...
Posted by Aaron, Monday, October 5, 2009, 3:26 pm Who cares? They choose to act that way. Let them pay the price.
Posted by Ryan, Monday, October 5, 2009, 4:22 pm Aaron,Do you choose to be straight? Could you just decide that you are going to become gay? No one chooses to be gay, they just are. I am gay and at no point in my life did I decide to like other men... I just always did. However, I did try to become straight. As hard as I tried, I could not force myself to be attracted to women. I suggest you do the same and see if you can become gay.
Posted by Alex, Monday, October 5, 2009, 4:24 pm Tim I hope you mean Federal government. I think it ludicrous that the federal tax system even discriminates on personal relationships or any grounds. However, I see nothing wrong with states offering tax reductions to heterosexual couples who are actively raising children, as this occurs naturally throughout humanity transcending culture and society as something that should be protected and promoted.
Posted by Connie Shumate, Monday, October 5, 2009, 7:17 pm Aaron, you have no idea what you are speaking of. Ryan gave you a mission if you choose to accept it. Please do your research before you share such a strong statement. I have a Sister that is in a same sex marriage. I assure you she Never chose to be gay. And most of the other Gay people that I have had the honor of getting to know did either. They are wonderful people like you or I that deserve the same rights that WE do. It really is not that difficult to understand.
Posted by jmdiaz10, Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 1:12 am Everyone should file a return as a single person. This is the only fair thing to do. If a couple has children, they can then split the exemption for the child in two, and any other tax benefit of having children in two, or they can elect to have one parent claim it and the other one not.
Posted by Brett, Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 2:12 pm Aaron, anyone who thinks being gay is a choice only thinks that way because they know they could be talked into it themselves. Come on out of the closet! Be your true self in public!!
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