Iowa's Gay Marriage Tourism Boost

by Michael Jones · 2009-08-31 01:41:00 UTC
Topics:

Iowa Gay Marriage

Iowa is one of six states that currently recognize marriage equality in the United States.  It's the only one outside of the northeastern United States, and as might be expected, it's serving as a tourist destination for gays and lesbians from neighboring states looking to tie the knot.  And that's not only a good thing for same-sex marriage, that's a good thing for Iowa's economy.

According to statistics released by the Des Moines Register, there have been 676 same-sex marriage certificates issued in Iowa between April 2009 and July 2009.  Of those, more than 300 were issued to couples from outside of Iowa.  That includes 57 from Illinois, 38 from Nebraska, 37 from Missouri, and 36 from Minnesota - all Iowa's neighbors. Nine couples from Minnesota alone got married this weekend in Iowa.

As the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School has documented, when states legalize same-sex marriage, their economy stands to improve.  Why?  Because of an injection of income into their state from couples planning weddings, and (in the case of Iowa) from couples and wedding parties from other states (where same-sex marriage is not legal) traveling and visiting.  It's a small benefit of marriage equality - after all, civil rights are not at all about doing what's financially profitable and all about doing what's morally right.  But it's still an important distinction to note.

This week will mark the five-month anniversary of the Iowa Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage.  Sadly, organizations like the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) are looking to attack LGBT rights in Iowa, making it one of their state priorities to repeal marriage rights.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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