The financial costs of discriminating against same-sex couples and their families

10/02/09 Marriage Equality New York:

What is the cost of being a second-class citizen? According to the New York Times, anywhere between $41,196 and $467,562. Those are the best- and worst-case extra costs that accrue to same-sex couples over a lifetime. The Times created a hypothetical same-sex couple whose situation would be similar to that of a heterosexual couple, and charted the additional costs they would bear based on varying income and other circumstances.

On the emotional toll discrimination exacts, the reporters also quote attorney Fredrick Hertz, co-author of Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnership & Civil Unions. Hertz comments on the article here.

Law professor Nancy Polikoff says that the NY Times reporters tell only one part of the story, because they overlook benefits to all couples, married or not, that would result if marriage were no longer accorded special legal status.

For other comments, see this post by attorney Gideon Alper, and this one by Andrew Sullivan.