Spending on same-sex weddings has provided a nearly $6 billion boost to state and local economies over the past decade, according to a new study.
Researchers at UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute recently published data on the economic impact of marriage equality in the U.S. in the 10 years since the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Prior to the landmark ruling, a patchwork of laws across the country allowed same-sex couples in some states to legally marry, while couples in other states were denied that right. According to the report, more than half (591,000) of the 823,000 married same-sex couples in the U.S. today tied the knot in the decade since Obergefell.
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Of those 591,000 couples, about 80 percent (473,000) held a wedding or similar celebration. The Williams Institute estimates that spending on those wedding celebrations by same-sex couples and their guests boosted state and local economies across the country by $5.9 billion while also generating an estimated $432.2 million in state and local sales tax revenue. Spending by out-of-state guests is also estimated to have generated nearly $1 billion over the past 10 years.
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The Williams Institute reports that the economic boon has been distributed throughout the country, with $2.3 billion in spending in the South, $1.7 billion in the West, $1 billion in the Midwest, and $900 million in the Northeast.
Additionally, the report estimates that same-sex weddings have led to the creation of around 41,300 jobs over the past decade.
“Marriage equality has had a significant impact on the lives and well-being of same-sex couples in the U.S.,” Christy Mallory, Interim Executive Director and Legal Director at the Williams Institute and the study’s lead author said, according to The Advocate. “Additionally, it has offered a substantial financial benefit to businesses as well as state and local governments.”
The study comes at a time when Republican lawmakers across the country have been emboldened by President Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election and statements from conservative Supreme Court justices to challenge the Obergefell decision.
In 2020 and 2022, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito signaled that they are eager for the court to reconsider Obergefell, particularly in the wake of its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which overturned Roe v. Wade.
More recently, Republican lawmakers in five states — Idaho, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota — have introduced resolutions calling for the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell. In four other states — Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas — Republican legislators have introduced bills aimed at creating inequality in marriage rights between opposite- and same-sex couples and inviting legal challenges that could be taken to the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell.
If the court were to overturn Obergefell, laws banning same-sex marriage that remain on the books in 35 states would likely go into effect. However, the 2022 federal Respect for Marriage Act would still require state and federal governments to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
But as the Williams Institute report suggests, in addition to attacking LGBTQ+ rights, Republicans risk a significant negative impact to their own state economies with their crusade against marriage equality.
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