An ugly little secret that everybody knows but nobody talks about.
A lot of these so-called "cultural" decisions can be traced back to an economic issue. It's going to cost someone money. A perfect example is gay marriage. Nobody (that matters) cares whether or not gay people get married. But if it affects their insurance claims or benefits, suddenly everyone gets very interested.
A lot of political positions on minorities can be traced back to this. Do you really think blacks, or women, or anyone else were actually paid less just because people wanted to punish them for their race or gender?
"It's not personal, paisan, it's just business."