Crossposted from /r/lgbt/ with the writer's permission:

Currently, the divorce laws on the books in many states are some of the most sexist in America's existance. They were written in a time where women didn't work, so they were entirely dependent on their husbands for income.

So if a married man with kids divorces - and his wife doesn't make far more than he does - he typically is responsible for splitting everything in half, then paying child support, then paying alimony (or "maintenance"), then paying her attorney's fees. It's such a raw deal it's not even funny.

Even if you take kids out of the equation, the man has to pay all of the above minus child support. If you ever read divorce cases, there's language referencing a strong policy of support for the homemaker. I've also seen instances where both spouses make roughly the same amount of money and the man has to pay far more in the divorce anyway.

So the advent of gay marriage will also bring marriage's partner: divorce. But when gay couples get divorced, I don't think you are going to see both partners treated as inequally as husband and wife do. I think both will be treated roughly equal (you won't see one partner paying tons of alimony and the other's attorneys fees). Essentially, you will see a modern treatment of divorce.

Well this won't make straight men happy if they are stuck shelling out 75% of their disposable income and filing for bankruptcy on account of their divorce, while their gay equivalents are escaping from a bad marriage relatively unscathed.

So I think gay divorce will cause courts (or maybe legislatures) to recognize the disparate treatment and modernize the divorce laws for straight couples to recognize the fact that many women have joined the workforce and are capable of supporting themselves. This will prevent a divorce from financially ruining the average straight man.

What do you think?