Rising Hegemon
If the morality of the decision is disputed (and I'm squarely on the side of approving of the decision both morally and legally) it's profitability is beyond doubt.
Imagine being a struggling Bed & Breakfast owner in Iowa, suddenly being the only State in the middle of the country allowing gay marriage and not having a residency requirement opens up new vistas for making money.
Businesses could see $160 million in new wedding and tourism spending over the next three years, according to a study from researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles.
"Iowa pretty much has the Midwest all to itself," said Lee Badgett, a University of Massachusetts economist who co-authored the 2008 report. "It's in the middle of a lot of states that have a lot of same-sex couples. It's in a good position."
The study predicts that 2,917 same-sex Iowa couples will wed in the three years after the marriages are allowed to proceed. In addition, nearly 55,000 out-of-state couples could come to Iowa to get married, the study found.
Iowa, a progressive gold mine. Suck on that Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois!
And it has deeper long-term implications:
"It makes Iowa overall a more welcoming state," Redlawsk said. "That's a good thing from the standpoint of businesses who, frankly, are concerned about quality of life issues for their employees."
A University of Iowa Hawkeye Poll released Friday found that 58.7 percent of Iowans under age 30 support gay marriage, and three-fourths favor some formal recognition of gay relationships.
And let us not forget that among the best educated and wealthiest social classes in this country are gays and lesbians -- combine the economic power of a same-sex couple and that is some serious social and economic development.
The change is coming, if nothing else, the State might as well be out front of it and demonstrate why tolerance and acceptance is good business.
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