New England Economy Could See Gay-Marriage Boost
Reuters
by Scott Malone
June 4, 2009
* Gay marriage laws made some couples
more likely to move
* Five of six New England states allow same-sex
weddings
* Couples reluctant to leave states that sanction
marriage
BOSTON, June 4 (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.
New arrivals include John Visser and Nick Keffer,
who recently moved to Hartford, Connecticut, from
Raleigh, North Carolina. They plan to wed later this
month.
"The sole, only reason why we moved was because
it was now legal for us to get married here," said
Visser, 42. "No other reason whatsoever other than
marriage equality. We were perfectly happy in North
Carolina."
New England has long burnished an image of
tolerance. Early European settlers in the
17th-century escaped religious persecution, although
they imposed their own stern doctrines and sometimes
expelled dissenters. Later, the region led the right
for the abolition of black slavery.
Five out of the region's six states now endorse
gay weddings after New Hampshire legalized same-sex
marriage on Wednesday, leaving Rhode Island as the
sole holdout.
The spread of gay marriage could serve as a
recruiting tool for universities, health care
companies and financial services firms that dominate
the region's economy, experts said.
"It will be a selling point when it comes to
trying to lure people with same-sex partners who are
being wooed for a job," said M.V. Lee Badgett, a
University of Massachusetts economist who studies
gay and lesbian issues.
Same-sex couples in the so-called "creative
class" were 2.5 times more likely to move to
Massachusetts in the three years following the
approval of same-sex marriage than they had been in
the three prior years, according to a study released
in May by the Williams Institute of the University
of California.
That study also found that migrants relocating to
the state were more likely to be younger and female
than before same-sex marriage was approved.
Research shows that heterosexual members of the
"creative class" -- a group that includes financial
whizzes, software programmers and educators -- tend
to regard states that allow gay marriages as more
appealing places to live.
"It broadly suggests you have an environment in
which people who are seen as different are
accepted," said Gary Gates, the UCLA demographer who
was the study's lead author.
Outside New England, the only other U.S. state to
allow gay marriage is Iowa. California for six
months last year allowed same-sex weddings before
voters put an end to the practice.
REASON TO STAY
The first economic effect Massachusetts felt from
gay marriage was a boost in business related to
actual wedding ceremonies performed over the past
five years.
The 12,167 same-sex couples that have wed and
their guests have spent about $111 million on
weddings, from flowers and cakes to hotel rooms and
meals for out-of-state guests, another Williams
Institute study found.
Over the longer term, there could be a greater
economic effect if gay couples decide they are
unwilling to leave the region to move to states
where their marriages would not be recognized.
Forty-two of the 50 U.S. states have laws on their
books prohibiting same-sex marriages.
"Once these states offer marriage to these
families, they will not quickly, willingly or easily
accept new assignments, transfers and promotions to
states that don't offer them," said Bob Witeck,
chief executive of Witeck-Combs Communications, a
Washington-based marketing firm that focuses on gay
and lesbian issues. "They're creating an economic
wall in the region that is going to impact the
ability of all national employers to move talent
around."
Some married gay people said they would not
consider moving to a state where their marriage
would not be recognized.
"I just wouldn't do it. It's pretty
straightforward," said Mike Swartz, 41, a vice
president at a software company who lives with his
husband in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Some couples said another key factor influencing
where they would move is how states recognize their
role as parents.
Marie Longo, 45, moved to Massachusetts before
the state allowed gay marriage because its laws
allowed her now-wife Allison to adopt Longo's twin
daughters.
"Portability is a big issue for those of us now
who have lived in a state where we have been legally
married and respected and treated just like any
other couple," said Longo, who works as a
fund-raiser for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders,
a group that lobbies for gay marriage.
Knowing they could move from state to state and
still have their marriage recognized made it easier
for Visser, an interior designer, and Keffer, a real
estate agent, to start a new life in the north,
Visser said.
"Connecticut is a very small state," Visser said.
"Hartford is the center and it only takes an hour to
get to the state border in any direction, so for us
to be able to establish ourselves in the surrounding
states, it broadens our opportunities. We feel less
restriction."
New England has a graying population,
particularly in Maine where 14.7 percent of the
population is 65 or older, compared to 12.5 percent
for the nation as a whole, according to U.S. Census
data. Economists and academics say this will take a
toll on the region's economy, both by limiting
innovation and growing the demand for government
services.
