We Can't Afford NOT To Have Gay Marriage in California

The LA Times tells us we can't vote down gay marriage because the state can't afford it:

Forget economic stimulus checks. Same-sex marriages may give California just the financial boost it needs.

Wedding planners, bakers and hotels began booking more business almost immediately after the state Supreme Court's May 15 decision overturning a ban on gay marriage. Citing pent-up demand, one UCLA study projects that same-sex unions could provide a $370-million shot in the arm to the state economy over the next three years....

M.V. Lee Badgett, research director at the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the UCLA School of Law, estimates that gay weddings could provide a $370-million boost to the state economy.

That estimate presumes that about half of California's 92,000 same-sex couples will tie the knot, multiplied by $8,040, the amount of money from savings accounts that Badgett figures same-sex couples will use on their weddings.Event planners, restaurants, tent and chair rental companies, florists, caterers and hotels should all get a piece of that pie, she said.

"There's an opportunity to get a big wedding windfall," she said.There are, of course, some caveats. No one can accurately project how many gay couples will spend thousands on weddings. And the legality of gay weddings is potentially short-lived, as officials verify petition signatures for a proposed Nov. 4 ballot initiative that would prohibit same-sex marriage.

I'm sure the weddings will be as festive as an event I saw Saturday night. My wife, daughter and myself attended the Pacific Symphony concert at the new 2,000 seat Renee' and Henry Segerstrom Hall. Great program and a wonderful place to hear a musical concert.

Across the traffic circle from the concert hall is the 3,000 seat Segerstrom Hall which also had a show going on that night. That show featured Bernadette Peters and the L.A. Gay Men's Chorus. I had to walk back to the car before the concert, and walking through the assemblage gathering for the Peters show was entertainment all by itself. You could have set up chairs and sold tickets just to watch the crowd.

And yes, they were all FABULOUS!

Correction: It was the Orange County Gay Men's Chorus directed, interestingly enough, by the guy who was the choir director at Melodyland Christian Center when I attended there in the late 70's and early 80's. He left his talented and beautiful wife and kids and now lives with his "partner". Geez.