D.C. Businesses Hope Gay Marriage Brings $$

Login Form

News Archive

Who's Online

Raadulg
Suttoneqq

Written by Administrator

Opponents of marriage equality in Washington, D.C. may have to balance their anti-family parity message with the risk of appearing to be anti-business: area companies are hoping that the newly-passed ordinance will attract wedding dollars to the nation’s capital city. As the economy has been sluggish to rebound from a severe slump, areas around the country where marriage equality has become the law of the land have pinned their hopes on gay and lesbian families bringing tourism and spending to local vendors and other businesses. Where marriage equality has flickered and then been quashed by anti-family equality forces, those hopes for an economic boost have been dashed.

Though it is possible that Congress will derail marriage equality for residents of Washington, D.C. during a 30-day review period--and also possible that the newly won rights of gay and lesbian families will be put to a Maine-style popular vote by anti-gay groups aiming for a repeal--business is already picking up for some vendors as same-sex families anticipate the start of legal weddings for themselves and others like them. A Dec. 20 Washington Post article noted that GayWeddings.com, based in Arlington, had seen orders pick up, as had wedding invitation firm Outvite.com. Local hotels were planning to position themselves as friendly to gay families tying the knot and to their out-of-town guests; local flower shops were considering which blooms to include in floral arrangements for gay and lesbian weddings.

As marriage equality as spread slowly and sporadically, it has brought with it a tide of new economic opportunity, not just for established businesses but also for those so excited at the prospect of marriage equality that they are ready to go into business for themselves. Such was the case for Beau Fodor, who once worked with The Salvation Army and who has previous experience as a window dresser. When Iowa extended marriage equality to the state’s gay and lesbian families, Fodor saw a chance at a fulfilling new career--as a wedding planner. Moreover, the newly won access of gay and lesbian families to marriage equality left Fodor feeling that he was "equal and human and the same as everybody else."

A study done by the University of California at Los Angeles on the economic impact of marriage equality around the country projected that Iowa could reap up to $160 million in the first three years. Projections also showed vendors and other businesses in the state of California taking in huge sums--a windfall that was cut short when anti-gay groups rode a message of fear that young children would be "inculcated" into homosexuality in the classroom to a stinging ballot-box defeat for gay families last year. Although the anti-gay message was framed in terms of keeping homosexuality out of schools, the eradication of marriage rights evidently did little to safeguard classrooms: a year after voters took marriage rights away from gay and lesbian families, anti-gay groups in California were still fighting the classroom battle and seeking to remove references to homosexuality and gay families from sex ed curricula.

Such social and legal hostility takes some of the gilding off the rosy economic prospect of marriage equality; said Fodor, "Every single person who is coming here is asking me, ’Will I be safe?’" Added the newly minted wedding planner, "That is a horrible thing to deal with."

Fodor said he would be pleased to help straight couples plan their unions, as long as they are okay with working with his preferred vendors. Indeed, not all
vendors have proven to be happy about the new pool of prospective clientele: same-sex couples have encountered rejection from vendors who disagree with legal rights for gay and lesbian families. However, that snag is easy to work around, thanks to new Web sites created to cater to same-sex couples planning their trip to the altar.

Although the lack of federal recognition means that gay and lesbian families face a patchwork situation in which their rights range from full state-level marriage to legal strangerhood, marriage equality is such a powerful draw to American families long denied access to the right that couples are willing to cross state lines in order to tie to knot--even if their home state refuses to honor the legal contract bestowed elsewhere.

Albany’s lawmakers may have abandoned the cause of marriage equality, disappointing New York families, but neighboring state Connecticut approved marriage equality earlier last year--and Greenwich, Conn., a scenic town only a short drive from New York City, is happy to accept the money that marrying couples won’t be spending locally. Greenwich is seeing some brisk wedding business these days from their New York neighbors, a trend that may even be increased by the recent failure of New York state lawmakers to embrace equal marriage rights for all families. Since New York honors marriages performed out of state, New Yorkers have every incentive to take their family business just over the border.

Some families come from ever further afield. Connecticut became the third state in the union to offer marriage equality in the autumn of 2008. Voters then declined a constitutional convention, which family parity opponents wanted to see take place as a prelude to a ballot initiative to rescinding marriage rights. Connecticut thus kept marriage equality, even as California families lost it. Now, couples are coming from as far away as northern California to tie the knot in Greenwich since they are denied that right back home.

Greenwich is not only picturesque, it’s regarded as a nice place overall, having been selected at one point as among the top towns in America (by CNN/Money and Money Magazine) in which to live.

Of the May 21, 2009 ceremony wedding her to Lizz Endrich, New Yorker Janis Castaldi said, "When you have Greenwich, Conn., 20 minutes away, I said, ’Why are we waiting?’"

But a brisk marriage business is not confined to Greenwich; towns throughout Connecticut have benefited from the state’s embrace of full legal equality for gay and lesbian families.

The marriage tourism phenomenon started even before Massachusetts became the first state in the union to recognize gay and lesbian families as legally wed six years ago. When Vermont became the first state to offer civil unions, couples from all over the map made their way to that state to engage in a ceremony that carried unequal weight even in Vermont, and no weight at all anywhere else. Now that Vermont has come full circle and embraced full state-level marriage equality, that state has again become a destination for families denied their domestic rights in their home states. Indeed, some travelers to Vermont are retracing the paths they took the first time around, when they visited the state for their civil unions; only this time, those couples come away saying that they are happily married. Vermont entrepreneurs, meantime, are happy to have the repeat business.

Kilian Melloy (Edgeboston.com) - 22 December 2009.

< Prev		Next >