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Satans Mark/Cashless Title: Gay marriage is all about the money Gay marriage is all about the money Bob Clark Posted Jun 29, 2011 @ 03:10 PM I learned a lot in high school economics class. The biggest thing was this: Everything that has ever happened on the world stage has revolved around the unrelenting dollar. The fall of the Roman Empire. The invasion of Iraq. Doesn’t matter what it is. It’s always about money. With New York legalizing gay marriage over the weekend, I’ve heard all sorts of negative things from people. (Fun fact of the day: Gays could already legally get married elsewhere and come back to New York and receive all the benefits which straight couples receive... but we’ll ignore that for right now). I’ve heard how gay marriage will destroy all straight marriages, how two men can’t raise a child, and how churches will come toppling down because of two dudes getting married. Guess what? This has nothing to do with straight couples. No matter how hard the bishops scream in their pulpits, this has absolutely nothing to do with churches. It’s not about a piece of paper saying “you’re married.” Hell, I could make up a pretty certificate saying I’m married to a grapefruit if I wanted. In fact, if you get past the warm, fuzzy feelings, this isn’t even about love. It’s all about, you guessed it, money. For starters, let’s look at just a couple of the benefits gay couples will have as as they get married sometime after July 24: • They can now file joint state tax returns. If they make less than $65,000 a year combined, they might even save some on their tax bill, just like a straight couple. • If they have large estates (as in more than $1 million), the living partner will be able to receive the entire estate without paying state taxes on it. • Gay state employees will now be able to share their benefits (health insurance, pension benefits, etc.) with their significant other. • If a partner dies in a work-related accident, the other may receive workers compensation death benefits. There are other benefits, but I’m not an accountant or a tax lawyer, so they are not my forte. As you can see, there’s a lot more to gain than just a piece of paper. If I were gay, I’d probably fight for those benefits, too. There’s a lot to gain for everyone else, too. With gay marriages, there will be a rush to have those ceremonies. Event halls will be booked, gowns, tuxedos and flowers will be bought en masse, and photographers, caterers and DJs will be hired. You know what that means? Two things. The first, and the most obvious, is more money being thrown into the local economy. That means money for florists to buy flowers from local growers. That means buying food for the bridal shop owner’s family. The second, which immediately follows with the first, is more tax dollars into the mix. Every one of those people who receives money from the new happy couple will be collecting sales taxes on their goods or services. Every person who profits from the wedding will pay their income taxes. The event center will pay its property taxes. That all adds up to more money for the federal and state governments. More money for the schools. More money for the towns, the villages, the counties. Go ahead and say it’s about God, or forcing straights to be gay, or some warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Apparently you didn’t pay attention in economics class.
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