Marriage Equality Works

Despite the tough economic times, no one’s talking about profiting from the legalization of same-sex weddings. Perhaps they should be.

By Rachel F. Elson
Jun 3, 2009 | Updated: 7:08 p.m. ET Jun 3, 2009

The phones started ringing at the Timberholm Inn in Stowe, Vt., in April, as soon as lawmakers voted to override a gubernatorial veto and allow same-sex marriage in the state. "It doesn’t go into effect till Sept. 1, but people are thinking ahead," says the inn’s co-owner, Susan Barnes. "We’ve got two same-sex weddings booked for October." Those bookings are good news for Barnes, who says the gay-friendly inn takes in a "couple of thousand" dollars with every wedding it hosts. And they are part of the reason some same-sex-wedding advocates are now pointing out a new legalization angle: the economic payoff.

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Mark Schuster and Jeffrey Webb are immigrants of a different sort.

So are Lynn Adler and Paige Warren.

The gay American couples resettled in Massachusetts, where they are treated — legally and socially — like any other married folks.

They moved in part because they wanted their children to grow up in a welcoming environment.

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By Scott Malone
Thu Jun 4, 2009 4:57pm EDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - The expansion of legal gay marriage across New England could deliver an economic windfall by attracting a youthful "creative class" of workers to a region with an aging population.

In the past year, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have joined Massachusetts, which in 2004 became the first U.S. state to allow same-sex weddings, in blessing gay and lesbian weddings.

That makes the region the first in the United States where same-sex couples can move from one state to another while retaining marriage benefits.

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“The untold story of how an unprecedented, years-long coordinated effort by gay rights advocates to defeat a ban on equal marriage in Massachusetts was decided in the fi nal nail-biting moments of a vote on June 14, 2007″

This is a nice read and great overview of the battle for marriage equality in Massachusetts.

Click here to download this article (PDF) »

Most say they feel more committed, accepted by peers

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff | May 24, 2009

Five years after the first same-sex weddings in Massachusetts, gay and lesbian couples express deeply traditional reasons for deciding to wed and cite equally conventional benefits flowing from marriage, according to a study being released this week.

A significant majority of the 558 gay men and women surveyed said that since marrying, they feel more committed to their spouses, more accepted in their community, and more likely to be open about their sexual orientation at work.
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BOSTON - Every year, the couples who led the fight for gay marriage in Massachusetts get together privately to celebrate both their own weddings and the marriages of thousands more couples who followed them.

But this year, the celebration feels a little bit sweeter for the six couples who will gather Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of Massachusetts becoming the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. This year, they will also be celebrating the legalization of gay marriage in four other states.
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(Boston, Massachusetts) A study by a noted university think tank has found that same-sex marriage in Massachusetts has resulted in a $111 million windfall for the state’s economy.

The study was one of two by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law showing the state has significantly gained as a result of the legalization five years ago of gay marriage.
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Same-sex couples have been getting married for five years now in Massachusetts. Gary Gates of UCLA’s Williams Institute has done the number-crunching and identified intriguing economic benefits.
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May 15, 2009 - On the eve of the fifth anniversary of same-sex couples marrying in Massachusetts, two new studies released today by UCLA’s Williams Institute show clear economic gains for Massachusetts that have resulted from marriage equality. Massachusetts gained a competitive edge in attracting young, highly educated “creative class” professionals who are in same-sex couples, according to one study. The second study confirms that the weddings of same-sex couples have given a significant boost to the state’s economy.
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Five years after Massachusetts became the first state in the country to legalize gay marriage, the issue is an apparent boon for the local economy, a mundane fact of life for many citizens and a vital concern for opponents.
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