Utah Passes Non-Discrimination Law

This month the Utah legislature -with the blessings of the Church of Latter-Day Saints- passed a law banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.  It also covers gender identity.  Unlike most such statutes, however, Utah's law does not cover public accommodations.  Thus, bias in employment and housing is now illegal, but Utah businesses can still deny services to individuals or couples based on their sexual orientation.

Save the Tatas

This quick map shows data from the CDC's 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) broken into standard deviations.  The pale gray states represent states where the percentage of women over the age of 40 reporting they have had the recommended mammogram in the past 2 years.  Gold states have better mammogram percentages.  Purple states have worse.

Massachusetts stands out as having the highest percentage of women over 40 who have had a mammogram. This much higher percentage for the Bay State likely results from the high percentage of women who have health insurance thanks to the program signed into law by Gov. Mitt Romney that has since become the model for the Affordable Care Act.

On the other extreme are the western states of Oklahoma, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana where significantly lower percentages of women have had mammograms.

Where the Big Families Are

This map is somewhat deceptive.  The average American household size in 2010 was 2.5 people per household.  The smallest average household size is among the densely urban District of Columbia (2.11 people per household) and rural, sparsely populated North Dakota (2.3 people per household).  Utah with its higher percentage of children has the largest households at 3.1 people per household.  So, there is not a huge difference between 2.11 and 3.1.

This map though shows the statistical standard deviations between the states (with DC excluded because it is such an outlier).  Still, you are going to find larger households on average in California, Utah, Texas, and Hawaii.  The western states in general plus Georgia and the large metropolitan suburbs in Maryland and New Jersey also attract larger households.

The Typical American, More on Age

If you are 37, then you are the same age as the Typical American.  In fact, the mean age among Americans in 2012 was 37.4 and the median age was 37.4 too.  The median age has been creeping up as the large Baby Boomer cohort ages. In 2007 for instance the median age was 35.

In only one state is the median age under 30:  Utah.  In seven states the median age is now over 40:  Maine, West Virginia, , Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Florida.  West Virginia likely has an older population because of a large out-migration of younger people to other states for jobs.  Florida on the other hand reflects the opposite:  a large in-migration of retirees.  Only five years earlier in 2007, there were NO states where the median age was over 40.

The Four Corners: Gay, Married and Confused in 2014!

Imagine going to the beautiful Four Corners where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet.  This quirk of state boundary lines creates the only place where 4 states meet at one point.  This spot also underscores the growing complexity of being gay and married in 2014 America:

Let's say you are gay and married:

So let's start with our foot in New Mexico.  Good news!  New Mexico recognizes your marriage.  You and your spouse can file state taxes jointly, have your names changed on state forms easily, adopt together, be recognized as the legal parent of your step-children, not have to testify in court against your spouse, apply for immigration for your non-citizen spouse, be granted a divorce, have inheritance rights, and so on and so on. You and the mister/missus and kids get the whole treasure box of 1000+ Federal benefits plus the dozens/hundreds of state ones.

But wait!  If you're a member of the Navajo Nation, there is a complication.  New Mexico recognizes your marriage, but the Navajo Nation does not for purposes of tribal benefits.  The Navajo Nation spans parts of New Mexico and Arizona.

Next let's shift our foot over into Arizona.  Alas, no marriage for you!  Arizona's constitution specifically bans same-sex marriages and their recognition.

But wait!  After the 2013 US Supreme Court ruling regarding DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act), the Federal government does recognize your marriage if you got married someplace outside of Arizona.  You can at least file your Federal taxes jointly.  Arizona though will still require you file your state taxes separately and has created a new form to be used by married couples...who aren't married in Arizona but are married in the USA.  Headache?  Perhaps the pending lawsuit to overturn Arizona's ban on marriage will clear things up.

Next let our foot scoot over to neighboring Utah.  Things are even more complicated here.  Two-thirds of deeply conservative Utah's voters approved an amendment to the state's constitution stomping out the specter of same-sex marriage.  Alas, a Federal judge ruled in December 2013 that this state ban violated the US Constitution based on the DOMA ruling.  Hundreds of couples scurried to marry.  The state sought a stop to the marriages while it appealed the ruling.  The original judge said no.  The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals said no too.  Finally, the US Supreme Court in January stopped the Utah wedding bells until the case gets settled.

So, what if you married in Utah in December?  Are you still married?  Will the state recognize you as married while the appeals process goes on?  Who knows?!

It gets even more complicated.  After the DOMA ruling, the Federal Department of Defense began granting married same-sex couples the same benefits it provides other married couples.  So, if you're a soldier and got hitched recently in New Mexico, no problem!  But, the Department of Defense is stumped too whether these recent Utah marriages are legal or not.  So it isn't sure it will grant your family military benefits if you got married in December in Utah.

Add to this situation that Utah's state government hasn't decided either how to handle state taxes for same-sex couples married in Utah...or married in another state too.  Better seek an accountant this year!

Whew!  Let's end our journey over in Colorado, the land of Rocky Mountain Highs...cough cough.  Yes, recreational marijuana is now legal in Colorado but not same-sex marriages.  On the other hand, the state does offer civil unions along with its tasty brownies and ski slopes.  If you get a civil union, you get most of the state same benefits to civil marriage except the name.  Even opposite-sex couples can get a civil union in Colorado.  Plus, the state will recognize your civil union if performed in another state.

But wait!  You're married; not in a civil union. Now things get tricky.  Colorado's legislation makes it clear that a civil union is not a marriage.  So you'll need to get a civil union to go with your marriage.  Are you a bigamist if you have a civil union and marriage with the same person?  Consider for a moment that North Dakota's Attorney General recently ruled that a ND man married to another man who lives in another state can marry a woman in North Dakota without getting divorced first from his first marriage to his husband.

But back to Colorado.  A legislator just filed a bill that will allow married same-sex couples to file their state taxes jointly.  If, however, you only have a civil union then you will still have to file separate state tax forms.

On the good side, this Colorado situation is so new that I bet there is not a single wedding etiquette book that says you cannot register twice:  once for your civil union ceremony and again for your marriage out-of-state.  Twice the fun.  Twice the loot.  Right?

Sigh!  Is your head spinning?  Well, better be careful.  If you fall and are knocked unconscious, in which state you land may determine if your spouse/'friend' gets to stay with you in the hospital and make medical decisions for you.

January 2014 Status of Same-sex Marriage in the US

The status of same-sex marriages and their legal recognition is rapidly changing in the United States.  Let's do a quick recap:

Federal:  In 2013 the US Supreme Court overturned the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which barred federal benefits to same-sex couples legally married in the United States or abroad.  As a result, same-sex marriage is basically legal in all 50 states ...in terms of Federal benefits.  So, if you get married in a state allowing same-sex marriages, various Federal agencies will recognize your marriage regardless of whether you live in a state with legal same-sex marriage or live in a state without same-sex marriages.  Thus, a couple in Kentucky can marry in Illinois and file their Federal taxes jointly, sign up their spouse for military benefits, be treated as a married couple for the purposes of immigration, etc.  In other words, these couples will be treated in theory no differently than any other legally married couple.

At least this is the case in theory.  Several states which ban same-sex marriages are requiring these married couples to file separately on their state taxes -even though the state forms require referencing their joint Federal tax return.  What a headache!

17 States With Legal Marriage:  In 17 states, DC, and in six tribal nations, a same-sex couple can walk into the property local office, apply for, and get a marriage license.  (See the dark blue states on the map above.

Utah:  In December 2013 a Federal judge threw out Utah's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and opened the doors for hundreds of Utah couples to marry.  Utah requested a stay on the decision until the state government could appeal the decision.  The original judge and the 10th Circuit of Appeal both turned down a stay.  Utah then appealed to the US Supreme Court which in January 2014 granted a stay until the appeal could be heard.  So now the lower court's decision is being appealed, and the status of the hundreds of newly married couples is unknown.  In the only similar situation when CA legalized and then banned same-sex marriages, the courts recognized those couples who had married when marriage was legal there. (It is legal again since 2013 in California by the way).

Ohio:  Another Federal judge in Ohio ruled in 2013 that Ohio must recognize same-sex couples who have legally married in another state on death certificates.  So, this ruling is narrow and only involves death certificates.  In this case and in Utah, both judges relied on the recent US Supreme Court's ruling on DOMA.

Oregon:  Oregon has offered same-sex couples civil unions since 2007.  It also has a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.  Now there are efforts to remove this constitutional amendment in Oregon and legalize marriage.  In the meantime the state has announced it will recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and abroad.  A lawsuit is also challenging the state ban on marriage.

North Dakota:  In a truly bizarre legal twist, North Dakota's attorney general ruled in 2013 that a North Dakota man who had married another man in another state could marry a woman in North Dakota ...without getting a divorce!  The potential bigamist could not get a divorce from his husband in ND because neither he nor his husband lived in states recognizing same-sex marriage.  Since ND doesn't recognize his marriage, the ND Attorney General ruled he could legally marry a woman in ND.

Lawsuits in 20 States:  As of January 8, 2014, there are legal cases pending in 20 states (including UT and Oregon) seeking to have these states recognize same-sex marriages.

Other 12 States:  In 12 states same-sex marriages are banned, and I could find no current pending lawsuits challenging these bans.  In Ohio the death certificate case opens the door for a wider challenge.  Wyoming's legislature considered a civil unions bill but shot it down.  In Florida the leading LGBT organization is reportedly seeking plaintiffs to challenge that state's ban.  Missouri's governor has said the state will recognize legally married same-sex couples for tax purposes but some members of the legislature are vowing to fight this regulatory policy change.

Navajo Nation:  The Navajo Nation's reservation lands include areas of New Mexico where same-sex marriage became legal in 2013, but a 2005 law bans same-sex marriage recognition by the tribal government.  There is now a push to legalize same-sex marriages in the Navajo Nation.  If successful, the Navajos would join 8 other tribes where same-sex marriages are now legal and recognized.

Non-Smokers

To follow up on yesterday's post about which states have had the most success in adults quitting smoking, here is another map looking at differences between states in terms of non-smokers.  Utah by far leads the pack in regards to the highest number of adults who have never smoked.  The majority of adults in 48 of the 50 states have never smoked (see yesterday's post for which two states have more adults who have smoked than adults who have never smoked).

Where Have Smoking Cessation Programs Had the Biggest Impact?

In this continuing series on health data, let's look today at smoking.

The CDC lists smoking as the #1 preventable cause of early death.  Around 40% of people who smoke will eventually develop some type of health problem related to smoking.  Thus, smoking cessation and prevention programs for decades have -successfully I might add- greatly reduced the number of Americans to smoke.

In looking at data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) of adult health behaviors, I was curious if there were any regional differences showing where smoking cessation programs have had the biggest impact.  And it appears the answer is YES! -specifically in New England and Arizona which so the biggest percentages of people who have quit smoking.  

Let's look at the maps individually:

In every state except two, most adults have never smoked.  Only in Kentucky and West Virginia do the number of current or former smoker exceed 50% (52% each actually).  I have kept the legend values the same on these 4 maps, however, for comparison purposes.

By 2010 the number of adults who smoke daily in every state is below 1 in 5 -except in West Virginia where daily smokers exceed 20% of the population.





Interestingly, most American adults who smoke also smoke daily.  Less than 10% of American adults report they smoke but only a few days a week.

This last map shows the key differences.  People in Utah are the least likely to ever smoke.  Thus, Utah also has the lowest percentage of former smokers -because fewer people ever started smoking.  In most of the rest of the country, the percentage of former smokers is somewhere between 20-30% of the adult population.  The key exceptions are VT, NH, ME, and AZ where a larger percentage of the population has stopped smoking.  All four of these states actually had higher percentages of adults who have smoked or currently smoke but have had more success in adults quitting.

...and Utah makes 18

Yesterday's ruling by Federal Judge Shelby overturning Utah's state constitutional ban limiting marriage to opposite sex couples opened the door to legal same sex marriages in Utah.  The District of Columbia and the other 16 states with legal same sex marriage vote consistently Democratic, but Utah is the first "Red State" to legalize same sex marriage.  Utah is not only a Republican stronghold but also the reddest of the red states with the highest percentage of voters voting Republican in Presidential elections recently.

The Utah ruling is also the first use the US Supreme Court's decision in the Windsor case.  Windsor is the decision which found the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional.  Judge Shelby's decision borrows heavily not only from the main Windsor decision but also conservative Justice Scalia's dissent. Scalia's dissent predicted that opening up Federal benefits nationally to married couples would spell the end of the state mini-DOMAs.

Let's look at the growing divide regionally on the issue of same sex marriage:

Percentage of States Where Same Sex Marriages Are Legal at the State Level
New England (MA, VT, NH, CT, RI, and ME):  100%
Mid-Atlantic (DC, MD, DE, NJ, PA, and NY):  83%
Midwest (IA, MN, IL, WI, MI, IN, OH):  43%
West (NM, CO, WY, MT, ID, UT, AZ, CA, HI, AK, OR, and WA):  39%

vs.

South (former Confederate states of TX, LA, AR, TN, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, and MS):  0%
Plains states (OK, KS, NE, SD, and ND):  0%
Border states (MO, KY, WV):  0%