Demise of Same-Sex Weddings Disheartens Businesses
As the article above from the NYTimes states:
“In June, the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, which studies sexual orientation and the law, estimated that legalizing same-sex ceremonies in the state [of California] would result in about $63.8 million in government tax and fee revenue over three years.”
This is just another reason why same-sex unions should be allowed.
In fact, how about this solution:
From this point on, Marriage Certificates are only issued by the churches as a formality. Marriage Licenses are changed to CIVIL UNION LICENSES carrying the full legal rights previously given upon issuance of a Marriage License.
This way, those that want “Marriage” protected can keep their term by way of a church-issued Marriage Certificate. All others, whether gay or straight, would be equally covered with the new Civil Union License.
I was just speaking to my new wife this weekend about this very thing. We went to California last month to get married at the Santa Ana Courthouse. We stayed in a hotel, we celebrated at Disneyland, we ate in local restaurants, we bought fuel for the drive…all purchases that we would not made if we weren’t travelling to California to get married.
Amagine what many gay couples must have spent on caterers, hotels, banquet halls, florists, wedding planners…all which would have been potential revenue lost to businesses in California if same-sex marriage had not been legal for these last several months.
Comment by Lisa — November 10, 2008 @ 5:59 pm