The Rapidly Changing Marriage Map

As expected, the various states in the 9th, 10th, and 4th appellate circuits are catching up this week to those courts' rulings striking down bans on same sex marriage:

• Civil marriage for same sex couples is now legal in North Carolina.  South Carolina continues to fight the ruling, but the law is fairly clear that South Carolina must also abide by the 4th circuit's ruling.  
• In the 10th circuit a Wyoming judge has said he will rule by Monday on whether to strike down Wyoming's ban.  I'm not quite sure what is going on in Kansas.
• In the 9th an Alaskan judge struck down that state's ban. Couples began marrying but the state was able to get a temporary stay.  So it has gone from blue back to pink.  And in Arizona a judge ruled today there to strike down that state's ban and marriages are starting there.  Plaintiffs in Montana are seeking the court to affirm the 9th's decision applies to Montana too.  

And while court watchers have been waiting eagerly for the ruling from the 6th, we are still waiting.

Some Cities Are Just More City-Like

Some cities are...well...more city-like than others.  Population density is a big factor.  Out in Flagstaff, AZ, the metro area is big and relatively empty with only 7 people per square mile.  A couple of hundred miles west, however, is Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana where 2,652 people per square mile soak up that southern California sunshine.  I was frankly surprised.  I thought New York City would be America's most dense metro area, but it is now #2 behind LA.  Still, the eastern seaboard cities, Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Tampa, south Florida, and the San Francisco Bay area still pack in the people to provide that yummy urban goodness.

Updated: Religious Freedom Laws

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant (R) today signed into law the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act which allows Mississippians to sue or use as a legal defense the claim that any government policy, law, regulation, or ordinance places a burden on their free exercise of religion.  It also adds "In God We Trust" to the state seal.  The new law does not, however, allow employees to sue their employer by claiming the employer infringes on the employees' religious practices.

As I noted in my earlier post, at least 18 states (16 plus now KY and MS) already have these laws on the books.  A study by Wayne State law professor Christopher Lund also notes that these laws rarely lead to the successful defense of discriminatory acts.  For example, it is difficult to claim your deeply conservative Christian values force you to deny a wedding cake to a lesbian couple when you are willing to make cakes celebrating a Pagan solstice party, divorce, new grant to study cloning, etc. as recently was the case in Oregon.  Apparently to use these laws as a legal defense you would have to show you consistently apply your religious values in your dealings with customers.  Unfortunately, these laws also put the government in the position of differentiating consistent theological principles from discrimination seeking to hide behind religion.  Ironically, these 'religious freedom restoration' laws bring the courts into defining religion.

What is perhaps the true aim of these recent legislative attempts and new statutes is to make a political statement.  This isn't a new phenomenon.  Former Confederate states added the Confederate flag to their state flags to make a statement.  Mississippi amended its state flag in 1894, and in 2001 state residents voted down a proposal to remove the Confederate battle flag widely associated nationally with racists and rednecks.  Similarly, the Catholic organization Knights of Columbus spearheaded the addition in 1954 of the words "under God" into the US Pledge of Allegiance -a previously thoroughly secular pledge.  Symbols matter and are often appropriated by political agendas by groups across the political spectrum.  Take for example the recent debacle in South Carolina where a little girl's suggestion that the state adopt the wooly mammoth as the state fossil unleashed various amendments pushing a Creationist agenda.

These recent religious freedom laws underscore a symbolic resistance to advances in gay rights and a growing pushback to a politicized conservative Christianity.  Yet, as an observer from the South, it is interesting to note the massive media attention and pushback that states like Kansas and Arizona received over their religious freedom bills.  In Kentucky in 2013 and now in Mississippi in 2014 you don't see anything close to the pushback.  Perhaps the relative silence when the KY and MS legislatures beat their Bibles reflects a national attitude that much of the South is like a Confederate reservation where people can continue to live with 19th century values?  I've noticed when there is an anti-gay incident or attack in New York or another urban area, many commentators react against the perpetrators. When a similar anti-gay incident happens in the South, many commentators lash out at the entire state or the South as a whole.  Similarly, I see a number of my fellow Southerners view the diverse populations of cities and urban suburbs where the vast majority of Americans live as not the "real Americans" and erroneously paint Democrats and Democratic-voting areas as "welfare queens" and "takers".  In fact, data shows that most of America's economic production comes from its cities and urban states that in fact tend to vote Democratic.  Thus, the older, poorer, more rural red state areas are generally the "takers" who receive far more in Federal benefits than they pay in via taxes.  

My point here is that laws like the religious freedom bills are more about political theater than policy.  They enhance stereotypes that are not universal in these states, and they highlight the differential treatment and attention given to some states by the national media and social networks.  The Culture Wars continue and while same-sex marriage sweeps the country MS' conservatives can now proudly point to the "In God We Trust" on their state seal.  

Vacant Homes

The Great Recession starting in 2008 hit the housing industry hard.  New constructions plummeted.  Foreclosures skyrocketed.  Displaced former owners moved into rental property.

This map shows a snapshot from the 2010 Census of the percentage of vacant properties in each state.  So, I'm not sure how much of this pattern results from the Great Recession.  California and Nevada for instance had a large number of foreclosed properties, but the percentages of vacant housing are low there for 2010.

After looking at the Census definitions, I think this pattern is driven largely by vacation homes which are absent during parts of the year.  Note that more than a fifth of housing units are vacant in Vermont and Maine.  I suspect that beach and winter vacation homes in Florida, Myrtle Beach (SC), and Rehoboth Beach (DE) as well as summer homes in New England, Montana, and Alaska produce this pattern.  I once visited Skagway, Alaska.  I recall being told that the town had over 1000 residents in the summer but only about 100 through the winter.

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.

Fat in America

Happy New Year!  The start of a new year is often also the start of a new diet or health plan for many Americans.  The holidays have come and gone and left many with a few extra pounds.  So I thought today would be a good day to look at what else -obesity data!

Measuring obesity is somewhat complicated.  Because it is a relatively easy measure to gather, most survey data -including the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) data- use people's height and weight to calculate their Body Mass Index (BMI).  It is far from a perfect measure.  If you really are "big boned" as the country saying goes or are muscular, you may have a higher BMI but not be overweight. Or, you might come from an ethnicity of smaller framed people and rate as underweight when you are actually a healthy weight.  Still, for most people, the BMI is a relatively accurate measure of obesity.

The CDC breaks overweight people into the categories of Overweight (see above) and Obese (see below). Overweight people have a BMI of 25 to 29.9.  Obese people have a BMI of 30 or higher.  Being overweight puts you at risk for a shorter life, heart disease, diabetes, knee problems, and even psychological issues related to stigma against the overweight.

You'll notice that some states have relatively high percentages of people who are overweight but not that high of percentages of people who are obese.  Arizona stands out with this pattern.  Mississippi -which leads the country in the highest percentage of overweight and obese adults- has a relatively low percentage of people who are overweight in part because so many adults have transitioned into the obese category.

Even while obesity has risen across the country, a general pattern has emerged where the western states and northern tier states are relatively thinner than the South.

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.