Gay Marriage Lowers Straight Divorce

by Michael Jones · 2010-01-12 22:34:00 UTC
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Wedding RingsForget couples therapy! Straight married couples ought to just move to states that recognize same-sex marriage if they want to save their relationships. Because as it turns out, states that have legalized same-sex nuptials have the lowest divorce rates in the country.

Nate Silver has the goods. He breaks it down and shows that states that recognize marriage equality have seen their divorce rates plummet an average of eight percent over the past five years, whereas states that have banned gay marriage (you know who you are) have seen their divorce rates rise. A causal relationship?

Possibly. At a minimum, there's something more than just mere coincidence. Statisticians call it statistical significance. We just call it affirmation that the right-wing talking point that gay marriage would threaten the institution of marriage -- kind of like what we're seeing the defense argue in the federal Prop 8 trial -- is a bunch of bunk.

Perhaps most interesting, at least to a former Mayor of Wasilla, is that Alaska, the first state in the country to outright ban gay marriage in its state Constitution, has seen the highest increase in divorce rates over the past five years. Too bad Sarah Palin didn't have to answer for that during her VP debate with Senator O'Biden.

Photo credit: ComellMare

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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