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Divorce on Rise in States That Ban Gay Marriage

Massachusetts has country's lowest rate

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 12, 2010 12:08 PM CST

(Newser) – The people arguing that gay marriage erodes the institution of marriage might be surprised to know that divorce rates are generally higher in states that have constitutional bans on same-sex marriage in place. Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com ran a quick analysis on state-by-state divorce rates and found that, though they’re declining generally, they’re declining the most in states with more liberal attitudes towards homosexuality.

Since 2003 Massachusetts, where gay marriage has been legal since 2004, saw its divorce rate, as share of marriages, plummet to 0.96% in 2008, by far the nation’s lowest. The seven states with the biggest increases over that period all had strong, constitutional bans on gay marriage. The figures are “highly statistically significant,” concludes Silver, though, “they do not necessarily imply causation.” But it seems doubtful, at least, that there’s any statistical evidence that gay marriage harms the straight variety.

Married same-sex couple Frank Capley-Alfano, right, and Joe Capley-Alfano, who were married in 2008, kiss during a rally in front of a federal courthouse in San Francisco, Monday, Jan. 11, 2010.
Married same-sex couple Frank Capley-Alfano, right, and Joe Capley-Alfano, who were married in 2008, kiss during a rally in front of a federal courthouse in San Francisco, Monday, Jan. 11, 2010.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Luke Otterstad carries a sign about traditional marriage as demonstrators protest around him during a rally in front of a federal courthouse in San Francisco, Monday, Jan. 11, 2010.
Luke Otterstad carries a sign about traditional marriage as demonstrators protest around him during a rally in front of a federal courthouse in San Francisco, Monday, Jan. 11, 2010.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 42 comments
flightofphoenix1973
Jan 14, 2010 12:04 PM CST
I second that.
flightofphoenix1973
Jan 14, 2010 11:52 AM CST
@Corona_King Sexy submit button? rofl very funny.
opheliaglass
Jan 14, 2010 5:11 AM CST
the people that are against gay marriage probably carry this pigheaded, control-freak attitude into their own marriages, and that's why they get divorced.

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