During a break in a youth soccer tournament a few years ago, one of the other fathers on my son’s team surprised me when he told me that he was a strong supporter of gay marriage. He explained that it was good for his business.

 

“What do you do for a living?” I asked.

 

With a smile, he replied, “I’m a divorce lawyer.”

 

Now it turns out that there is more than anecdotal evidence that legalizing gay marriage can be good for a state’s economy. University of Massachusetts economics professor M.V. Lee Badgett estimated that Massachusetts will see a boost of more than $35 million a year as a result of same sex marriages…and that was before California voters banned gay marriage and sent more business to Massachusetts and its neighbor, Connecticut. Same-sex marriage is legal in Canada, Spain, South Africa, Netherlands and Belgium.

-David Wallechinsky

 

Two U.S. States See Boost from Gay Weddings (by Jason Szep, Reuters)