Yesterday, the New York Times “Bucks” blog rolled out a new series, “What If You’re Gay?” The blog comes in response to an October 2, 2009 Times article, “The High Price of Being a Gay Couple,” which estimated that we, as a couple unmarried in the eyes of the federal government, will pay dearly for having fallen in love in a state of inequality, to the tune of $28,585 to $211,993 to be (sort of) exact. (If we were a wealthy couple with a yacht-full of assets, the additional cost of being gay “could easily spiral into the millions,” says the NYT.)
The new “Bucks” series will, according to Times money blogger Tara Siegel Bernard, “delve into the financial issues that specifically affect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.” Bring it on!
Meanwhile, we can’t help but daydream about what else our gay dollars could buy us. For $28, 585, we could pay four-year tuition at a private university or hit the road in a brand new Mini Cooper S convertible in kicky Chili Red. And what might an extra $211,993 mean for our future? Well, we could pay cash for a lovely, middle-class home in Austin, Texas or raise a child to the age of 17. Or, if we skip the house and the kid, we could someday celebrate our retirement with a cruise around the world… that is, if we aren’t blowing our savings on long-term elderly care (knock on wood).
It just goes to show that while the gay marriage debate is fraught with questions of religion and so-called morality, civil marriage is a civil issue that has real and serious effects on LGBT people. The solution here is pretty simple: Repeal DOMA and give us the 1,138 federal rights of marriage so that we might have the same protections, financial and otherwise, as every other U.S. citizen.
