Gay Marriage is an Economic Development Strategy, Says Maine Professor

By Jon Reisman
Mar 3, 2004, 09:28

As the nation has heartburn over gay marriage and constitutional amendments, I am amazed that Gov. Baldacci has not seized upon this opportunity to promote economic development.

The Baldacci economic development team has been touting the "creative" economy strategy championed by Professor Richard Florida, who has argued that communities with large number of artists, musicians and homosexuals are exactly what Maine needs to prosper in the 21st century. Any concerns about Professor Florida's geographic analysis (he classified Silicon Valley and San Francisco as one "community") or his logic (correlation and causation are not the same thing) have been dismissed or ignored.

Promoting Maine as a tolerant place to get married to whatever gender or genders you prefer is a surefire tourism winner, and if any of the same sex couples decided to stay, we'd be well on our way to turning Bangor into a Bohemian economic engine. The traditional wedding month of June is pretty slow because of the black flies, so we've got plenty of available rooms and space. Maybe the new National Park in Greenville can be the Niagara Falls for gay honeymooners. The "Kate" can ply Moosehead on honeymoon galas.

Gay marriage celebratory traditions could include such Maine delicacies as donut-free bear meat and environmentally correct aquacultured oysters. The Boy Scout troops of Maine could do community service penance by serving as ushers at gay weddings across the state.

Governor Baldacci should issue an executive order directing the state and our partners to aggressively pursue gay marriage. That strategy is perfectly consistent with the administration's stated creativity strategy. If the Governor isn't brave or smart enough to do it, what San Francisco and New Paltz, NY have shown is. it only takes a mayor.

Jon Reisman is a Maine Public Policy Institute Scholar and a faculty member at the University of Maine at Machias, which does not necessarily agree with his views.

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