Same-sex marriage ‘worth $2.5bn’ to US economy
Same-sex marriage could be worth as much as $2.5 billion to the US economy annually, according to research.
A study conducted by Nerdwallet found that the net impact of same-sex marriage across all 50 states could add the sum to the estimated $51 billion that the wedding industry is worth.
The site wrote: “We took a look at how local economies in all 50 states would benefit if same-sex marriage was legal throughout the US.
“In each state, we looked at consumer spending on weddings, the self-identified gay and lesbian population and overall marriage rates.
“We found consumer spending on same-sex weddings could total $2,537,757,118 if the unions are legal throughout the U.S.
“Unsurprisingly, California (the most populous state in the nation) stands to gain the most of all states — $414,343,588 — or nearly twice as much as the projected economic gains of Texas, the state with the second-highest population.”
The findings are less optimistic than some other analyses of the net benefit of same-sex marriages, due to the rush of marriages in the first years they are available.
Earlier today, a judge in South Carolina became the latest to strike down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
US District Judge Richard Mark Gergel wrote that the state’s anti-gay marriage laws “unconstitutionally infringe on the rights of Plaintiffs under the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and are invalid as a matter of law.”
He adds: “While a party is certainly free to argue against precedent, even very recent precedent, the Fourth Circuit has exhaustively addressed the issues raised by Defendants and firmly and unambiguously recognized a fundamental right of same sex couples to marry and the power of the federal courts to address and vindicate that right.”
