Banning Gay Marriage Increases HIV Infection

Here's your daily dose of Freakonomics.  Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta have finished a study that concludes that states that ban same-sex marriage have higher rates of HIV infection. Which means that the public health consequences of denying equal rights to LGBT people could be disastrous.

The two researchers used mathematical models to compare HIV rates to different markers of tolerance for LGBT people.  Among those markers included laws and constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.  Per their research, as tolerance increases, HIV rates decrease.

Coincidence?  I tend to think not.  Rather, this seems to be another example of how fostering acceptance and equality spills over and has positive side effects for other areas of society.  We've already seen how enacting marriage equality financially benefits states.  Now it looks like the benefits to public health are also significant.

Here are the key findings from the Emory study:

• The increase in tolerance for LGBT people that occurred from the 1970s to the mid-1990s reduced HIV cases by about one case per 100,000 people;
• Enacting a same-sex marriage ban is associated with an increase in the estimated HIV rate of 3 to 5 cases per 100,000 people;
• For gay men especially, increases in the number of reported “cruisy areas” correspond to a decrease in tolerance and an increase in HIV, indicating social stigma may drive gay men toward riskier “underground” interactions;
• Increases in the number of formal gay establishments like bars, churches and community centers do not correspond to an increase in HIV

Wow, who says that economists have to study boring financial numbers all day?  This is pretty cool stuff.

This study should be a welcome addition to the debate over marriage equality in the U.S.  Additionally, the study should have implications for dealing with global homophobia.  Already I can see parallels between the tenets of this Emory study, and efforts in India (and elsewhere) to decriminalize homosexuality.  As activists in India have argued, criminalizing homosexuality only increases the threat of HIV and risky, underground sexual behavior.  It also makes sense that banning marriage, or creating an environment where same-sex relationships are viewed with scorn and shame, also increases the risk of insecurity when it comes to public health concerns like HIV.