Posted on 05/30/2009 11:06:56 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Julie Pokela used to be cautious about how she described her relationship with her partner, Elizabeth Denny.
Girlfriend? Significant other?
"You don't know how people - especially strangers -will react," says Pokela, of Northampton.
[ CHART SHOWING SAME SEX MARRIAGE TOTALS ]
That changed on May 18, 2004, when Pokela and Denny were married in Northampton. After 20 years together, they acquired the right to introduce each other as "my wife."
It's been five years since Massachusetts became the first state in the country to allow gay couples to marry.
Since then, there have been more than 12,350 same-sex marriages in the Bay State.
Gay marriage has also become legal in Vermont, Maine, Connecticut and Iowa. New York and New Hampshire are on the brink. The California state Supreme Court this week upheld a ban on new same-sex marriages, but allowed existing marriages to stand.
[ PICTURE OF TWO LESBIANS ]
Now, at a time when everyone is worried about the economy, there's a hint that legalizing gay marriage might have been a smart financial move for Massachusetts.
Two new studies from the Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law suggest that the commonwealth has made some money from the matter.
"The Business Boost from Marriage Equality" concludes that between May 2004 and September 2008:
(Excerpt) Read more at masslive.com ...
Proctologists report increase in business.
Oh yes, it’s all about the money... isn’t it?
Ping
Same nonsensical economic arguments, all based on Henry Hazlitt’s “Broken Window” fallacy.
“Wealth was added to the economy because same-sex couples purchased $XX.XX in gowns and wedding presents.”
That simply means those same-sex couples did NOT purchase $XX.XX in other things. The sellers of gowns profited by $XX.XX; the sellers of other goods — the goods they would have bought had they not gotten married and bought gowns — did NOT profit by exactly the same amount.
No new wealth has been added to the economy.
Nice try.
Your state is broke, and I'm guessing it will continue in it's decline as long as these heathen practices, falsely described as "gay marriages", are allowed to continue. Massachusetts was the first state to slide off into the sodomite abyss.
LOL.
Unlikely overall, but divorce lawyers will see a significant increase in business. Considering the lifestyle and proclivities of this demographic, gay divorce should very lucrative.
There is no assurance that any union / marriage will be stable. What’s the average divorce rate these days? I know I added to it a couple of times myself.
My brother, a gay man, has been with his partner for almost 15 years. Far longer than my failures lasted...combined. They’re not “married”, but that’s only because they live in a state where it’s not legal...yet.
I will never condone same-sex marriages, nor will I ever call my brother’s partner his “husband”. They adopted a little girl a couple of years ago. She’s black, my brother is white, and his partner Mexican. An interesting family to say the least.
While I can’t say as I completely approve, when you see them together, the love they have for her, and vice versa, I can’t help but wonder: “If they hadn’t adopted her, she’d probably be in a foster home being bounced around by the state.” How stable is that for anyone?
I agree, children need stable unions to be successful. And until parent’s, ALL parent’s, realize this and take a round-turn on how they raise their children and care for their family, they will continue to blame society and everyone else for their failures.
“...And if pigeons started crapping gold doubloons - so what?”
Oh, good grief, that actually made me laugh out loud.
Why of course! That’s what we need in our already broke state of mexifornia. MORE gay marriages. That will definitely fix the state economy. How come Arnie didn’t think of this?
The Institute for Marriage And Public Policy (IMAPP) has just issued a report on the high rate of divorce among homosexual males and females in Sweden. The survey indicated that homosexual male couples were 1.5 times as likely to divorce as opposite-sex couples; while female homosexuals were 2.67 times as likely to divorce as opposite-sex couples.
Researchers in the Netherlands found that the average “marriage” between two men lasts one and a half years. Furthermore, during that time, men have eight other partners per year apart from their living partner.
With the incidence of cohabitation increasing when same sex marriages have state sanction, the separation rates of all groups will also increase at the detriment of children.
And Preparation H.
A neighbor friend of mine back home cohabitated with a man for over 15 years. They have two children, but never married. Now, they’re splitting up. Everything is in his name so she gets...what? Granted, she put herself in this situation, but they’re now staying at my home, with my family, while I’m here in Iraq. Stability? Oh...and the state I live in doesn’t have common-law marriages.
Those reports are from European countries, and while I can’t argue with numbers, I’d like to see a report done in the states to compare. What’s the rate of divorce amongst heterosexual couples in those countries? What’s the divorice rate in the states? I will admit...I am woefully ingorant when it comes to facts and figures in these areas.
I would be interested to read the numbers of heterosexual cohabitations in the U.S. that bear children and see how it compares. My first sentance lists at least one.
If the well-being of the child is your main point, which it seems to be, then in my opinion, which is all I have to go on, it is a simple matter of Parenting 101. When you care more for your child’s well-being and less for your own; when you’re directly involved in your child’s upbringing; when you apply discipline (which society as a whole says is wrong these days) in a controlled way; then you will have stability and, hopefully, a happy, stable, successful child who grows in to a productive member of society.
gay divorce should very lucrative.
Sheesh can it really get worse than straights at 50 percent? I wish straights would get our acts together and stay married.
Ah, didn’t they have to change the forms in Iowa, and I presume Massachusetts, from ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ to First Party and Second Party. They can introduce one another that way.
If you ask anyone, they would quote this. I have heard this for YEARS.
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