TY  - JOUR
AU  - Dee,Thomas S.
TI  - Forsaking All Others? The Effects of "Gay Marriage" on Risky Sex
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11327
PY  - 2005
Y2  - May 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11327
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11327.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Thomas Dee
Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Polic
and Department of Economics
University of Virginia
235 McCormick Road
P.O. Box 400893
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Tel: 434/243-3731
Fax: 434/243-6858
E-Mail: dee@virginia.edu
AB  - One of the conjectured benefits of establishing the legal recognition of samesex partnerships is that it would promote a culture of responsibility and commitment among homosexuals. A specific implication of this claim is that "gay marriage" will reduce the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI). In this study, I present a simple 2-period model, which provides a framework for discussing the ways in which gay marriage might reduce (or increase) the prevalence of STI. Then, I present reduced-form empirical evidence on whether gay marriage has actually reduced STI rates. These evaluations are based on country-level panel data from Europe, where nations began introducing national recognition of same-sex partnerships in 1989. The results suggest that these gay-marriage laws led to statistically significant reductions in syphilis rates. However, these effects were smaller and statistically imprecise with respect to gonorrhea and HIV.
ER  -