In sickness and in health: same-sex marriage laws and sexually transmitted infections.
This paper analyzes the relationship between same-sex marriage laws and sexually transmitted infections in the United States using state-level data from 1981 to 2008. We hypothesize that same-sex marriage laws may directly affect risky homosexual behavior; may affect or mirror social attitudes toward gays, which in turn may affect homosexual behavior; and may affect or mirror attitudes toward non-marital sex, which may affect risky heterosexual behavior. Our findings may be summarized as follows. Laws banning same-sex marriage are unrelated to gonorrhea rates, which are a proxy for risky heterosexual behavior. They are more closely associated with syphilis rates, which are a proxy for risky homosexual behavior. However, these estimates are smaller and less statistically significant when we exclude California, the state with the largest gay population. Also, laws permitting same-sex marriage are unrelated to gonorrhea or syphilis, but variation in these laws is insufficient to yield precise estimates. In sum, the findings point to a modest positive association--if any at all--between same-sex marriage bans and syphilis.
Department of Economics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322-2240, USA. andrew.francis@emory.edu
Andrew M
AM
Francis
Hugo M
HM
Mialon
Handie
H
Peng
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D036262:Empirical Research; D005260:Female; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013587:Syphilis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult