Prop 8 and Your Wallet

Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5

Students gather in Massachusetts to protest the passage of Prop 8 in California, showing the national interest in the issue. Photo by Marilyn Humphries/Newscom

In the last few months of “firsts” and historical milestones, it seems many people—through the rose-colored glass—somehow have forgotten one significant setback of November 4: the passage of Prop 8.

The beginning of oral arguments against the bill’s passage, which will be held March 5, have been brought forward by several organizations (including the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal), claiming through the Equal Protection Clause that “strict safeguards that prohibit the underlying principles of the California Constitution from being changed by a simple majority vote” and that “Proposition 8 violates the most basic principle of our government: that all people are entitled to equal treatment under the law.” 

Opponents, on the other hand (curiously led by Ken Starr) have argued that this amendment would “make the definition of marriage to what the vast majority of California voters already approved and human history has understood marriage to be.”

In issue 18 of FLYP, the moral ramifications of this topic were covered with a down-to-earth look at the people behind this proposal.

I would rather take a different perspective. Considering the economic recession (for you optimists) / depression (let’s be honest) of the past year, let’s go with economics. A study last June from UCLA’s Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy found a few interesting numbers, estimating the 3-year impact of gay marriage as an institution in California:
•    2,200 new jobs created in California
•    100,000 gay marriages in the first three years of legalization
•    $9 million spent on marriage license fees
•    $64 million in tax revenue for the state

And, the whopper:
•    $684 million for marriage-related services (photographers, cakes, clothes)

The economic benefits of marriage, on an entire economy, are incredible, and certainly should be a consideration in the ongoing debate over Prop 8.