The ‘Cost’ of Being Gay
October 5, 2009
What is the cost of being a homosexual parent? The New York Times set out recently to find out in a spirit of complete impartiality. You have a heart of stone if, after reading this, you do not cry out at the inherent injustice of a system that imposes financial penalties on homosexuals. According to the Times’ personal finance columnists:
Much of the debate over legalizing gay marriage has focused on God and Scripture, the Constitution and equal protection. But we see the world through the prism of money. [Laura: Hey, thanks for being honest!] And for years, we’ve heard from gay couples about all the extra health, legal and other costs they bear. So we set out to determine what they were and to come up with a round number — a couple’s lifetime cost of being gay.
Tara Siegel Bernard and Ron Lieber then go on to analyse the inequities created by Social Security, taxes and health insurance programs that do not view these couples as man and wife. There’s one major inequality the Times does not mention. These couples typically spend significant sums to even have children. They go to sperm banks and adoption services to create their artificial families. It’s true that some lesbian couples simply resort to male friends, which is a cheap route and a great way to exploit the father of one’s future child. But, many choose the more expensive alternative.
Given the exhaustive nature of the Times analysis, why didn’t the writers mention this extra cost? Could it be because it is a penalty that nature imposes?
I came up blank in the sympathy department for the Times’ hypothetical homosexual couple that makes $140,000 a year. It’s possible the lifetime cost may only amount to $41,000. The worst case scenario has them paying some $450,000. I would prefer the cost to be twenty or forty times this. Government and employers should impose onerous financial penalties on those who subject children to unhealthy and psychologically damaging conditions. They should be viewed as similar to corporations that dump toxic chemicals in our rivers and streams. Fine them and make them pay for the future damage.
