Los Angeles News

LOS ANGELES Gay marriages, which are to begin Tuesday in California, are expected to be a boon to the economy in Los Angeles and throughout the state, according to a UCLA study.

The study, released earlier this month, estimates that nearly half of California's 102,600 same-sex couples will marry over the next three years, and that they and same-sex couples from other states will spend more than $683 million on their weddings, honeymoons and other marriage-related activities.

The report estimated that California same-sex couples will spend about $392.3 million on weddings over the next three years; marriage license fees for same-sex couples will generate $8.8 million for counties; and wedding spending will result in 2,100 new jobs in the state.

In addition to the estimated 60,000 same-sex California couples expected to marry, as many as 68,000 out-of-state gays, including 12,000 from New York alone, are expected to get married in California this summer, according to the study.

Unlike Massachusetts, which is the only other state to sanction same sex marriages, California will allow nonresidents to wed.

In a 4-3 decision, the California Supreme Court last month struck down Proposition 22, which was approved by voters in 2000 and stated that only a marriage between a man and a woman is sanctioned by the state.

The state's high court ruled that the proposition was unconstitutional because it discriminated against gays and did not provide them with equal protection under the law.

Although Prop. 22 passed by 61 percent, a recent statewide poll indicated the electorate is more evenly split on the proposed ban now, and existing same-sex marriages would apparently remain legal even if it passes.

Most county clerk offices will begin issuing the licenses Tuesday, but
some will start at 5:01 p.m. Monday.

The federal government still does not recognize same-sex marriages, and
the General Accounting Office has identified 1,138 federal benefits and rights to civil marriage that will not be extended to gay couples.

With gay marriage on the horizon, more same-sex couples are considering prenuptial agreements.

"I've had several preliminary inquiries from gay couples asking about their rights and liabilities," said Palm Desert trust and estate attorney Jeremy Ofseyer. "California is a community property state and it's a good opportunity to opt out of those requirements."

Rancho Mirage family law attorney Barbara Kristal, who has written prenuptial contracts for same-sex couples, said such agreements starts at about
$750, but more complicated contracts can run as much as $5,000. A typical prenuptial contract costs $1,500 to $2,000, she said.

Ofseyer advised same-sex couples to "look before they leap" into marriage.

"It brings a whole new set of issues and advantages and disadvantages for gay and lesbian couples, he said.

One of the major disadvantages, according to Ofseyer, is that gay and lesbian married couples will not be allowed to file joint federal income tax
returns.

The biggest advantage, he said, is "formally consecrating the relationship."

And since the announcement that same-sex marriages will be sanctioned in California, the Fertility Institutes of L.A., which describes itself as the
first medical program of its kind in the country dedicated to facilitate gay
male parenthood, reported it has been swamped with calls by people wanting to know how reproductive rights will be handled.

Institute Director Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg issued a statement saying that
before the legalization of same-sex marriages, the facility required unmarried couples, straight or gay, to have a written agreement outlining such things as who will have custody in the event of a split or disagreement.

"This is not needed with married straight couples as the `mother' and `father' are well defined in a straight, married couple," Steinberg said. "In
a gay married couple, we are going to need to see what the courts have to say about custody. Are the genetic -- the donor of sperm -- rights equally shared with marriage, as in a straight couple, even though one donated genetic material and the other did not? I would explain that this opens up a whole Pandora's box of new questions and issues and that we are waiting to see what needs to be done.

"The other issues involves the surrogates. We always spell out in the surrogacy contracts that there is a gay couple that wants to have the baby and that the couple so far have a separate agreement concerning the ultimate parentage of the child. Do we now remove these clauses? In other words, even if gay marriage is law, is a `gay marriage' on an equal footing with a `straight' marriage as far as reproductive rights are concerned? It remains to be seen and debated."

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)