Category: Badgett

M.V. Lee Badgett, economics and director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, comments about a new study that finds a significant amount of discrimination in hiring against openly gay men in some parts of the country. According to Badgett the study, “rules out differences in the gay and heterosexual applicants’ skills and experience by design, so the fact that gay applicants are much less likely to be invited for an interview is hard to explain by anything other than discrimination.” (Bay Area Reporter, 10/13/11)

M.V. Lee Badgett, UMass Amherst economics professor and director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, comments in a story about how even with the end of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, same-sex couples are not treated equally because of the federal Defense of Marriage law. She says that law says states don’t have to recognize marriages from other states that allow for same-sex marriage and that the federal government also won’t recognize them. Badgett says that law has to be rescinded by Congress or struck down by the courts before the situation changes. (Marketplace [NPR], 9/30/11) Listen to the audio.

The book When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage, by M.V. Lee Badgett, UMass Amherst economics professor and director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, is reviewed as part of a discussion of how legalized same-sex marriage is gaining respectability and recognition as more states legalize it. The Globe article, “Making the case for gay marriage,” cites Badgett’s findings that legalizing same-sex marriage can benefit society as well as the couple. “The research suggests that legal relationships among gay men in Europe appear to encourage monogamy, resulting in lower rates of HIV and syphilis. Gay couples who marry generally report a feeling of inclusion, which reduces what Badgett calls ‘minority stress.'” (Globe, 7/24/11)

A columnist writing in response to the passage of a new law in New York legalizing same-sex marriage says the institution of marriage is evolving. The author cites research done by M.V. Lee Badgett, economics and director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, and her book, “When Gay People Get Married.” In researching the book, Badgett found that European countries that legalized same-sex marriage during the past 15 years saw lower divorce rates and higher levels of heterosexual marriage than countries that didn’t legalize it. (Newsday, 6/26/11)

In a letter to the editor of the New York Times, M.V. Lee Badgett, UMass Amherst economics professor and director of CPPA, responds to an op-ed that takes issue with her research on the positive economic impacts of same-sex marriage.

The author of the op-ed argues that using economic arguments to advance LGBT rights “dehumanizes” gays and lesbians and suggests that basic human rights should apply to citizens only when it makes good economic sense.

Badgett responds by noting that economic arguments are only one piece of the debate over same-sex marriage.  Furthermore, she notes, the claim is often made that equal rights for gays and lesbians is too expensive, especially in states that are currently struggling to balance budgets.  Research like hers that shows the economic benefits of equality disproves that claim. (New York Times, 5/16/11)

M.V. Lee Badgett, UMass Amherst economics professor and director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, co-authored an editorial in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. The editorial, “The High Costs of Discrimination,” discusses the costs associated with Massachusetts’ failure to pass legislation prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity to both the individuals as well as the state’s economy. The op-ed is based on a the study, “The Costs of Employment Discrimination Against Transgender Residents of Massachusetts,” conducted by Badgett’s co-author, Jody L. Herman of the Williams Institute at UCLA.

A new study co-authored by M.V. Lee Badgett, UMass Amherst economics professor and directo of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, finds that recognizing same-sex marriage in Rhode Island would generate $1.2 million (in 2010 dollars) for the state over the three years following passage of the measure. The net impact would result from savings in expenditures on state means-tested public benefit programs and an increase in state marriage license fees and income and sales tax revenue. The study also finds that Rhode Island’s resident same-sex couples and their guests would spend more than $5 million in wedding expenses over three years.

Badgett is also Research Director for the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the UCLA School of Law.  Read the full study…

M.V. Lee Badgett, economics professor and director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, weighs in on the debate about same-sex marriage in an online debate on the issue in The Economist magazine.  Badgett says, based on her research, that same-sex couples share the basic human right to marry.  She concludes, “Overall, the evidence suggests that letting same-sex couples marry would be a good thing for all concerned, straight or gay. Expanding access to the institution creates these gains; no change in the rules and expectations for married couples is required or sought. Gay couples’ interest in marriage is a vote in favour of the continuing relevance of marriage in today’s world, a change that should strengthen, not weaken, the institution.” (The Economist,  1/6/11)

A story on whether the fight for gay rights is the contemporary equivalent to the civil rights movement of the 1960s cites a survey done in 2009 by M.V. Lee Badgett, economics professor and director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, and colleagues in cooperation with the Williams Institute at UCLA. The study found that gays and lesbians are more likely to be poor than affluent, despite the widespread view that most gays are well off economically. (Newsweek, 12/14/10)

M.V. Lee Badgett, economics and director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, says same-sex couples suffer an even larger “marriage penalty” than heterosexual married couples. Congressional Republicans say if they gain control of Congress, they plan to get rid of the marriage penalty, but because they don’t support same-sex marriage it’s unlikely they would extend that effort to gay and lesbian married couples. (Keen News Service, 9/23/10)