The Freedom to Marry expected to create Wedding-related Jobs in D.C.
Posted on Mar 10, 2010 at 03:37 pm
Georgetown residents Christopher Cahill and Richard Marshall consider the $75,000 wedding that they're planning for June to be their own "personal stimulus package" for the District economy. And local businesses are already seeing the dollar signs.
150 Same-Sex Couples seek Marriage Licenses in DC
Posted on Mar 04, 2010 at 03:14 pm
One gay couple met on a Star Trek fan site, another dancing at a country western bar. Some have been together for months, others more than a decade.
About 150 pairs had something in common Wednesday, though, applying for wedding licenses on the first day same-sex unions became legal in the nation's capital.
D.C. Chief Judge’s Advice for Couples planning to wed
Posted on Mar 04, 2010 at 01:03 pm
D.C. Superior Court Chief Judge Lee Satterfield, who oversees the court’s Marriage Bureau, offers tips and advice for same-sex couples coming to the courthouse for the first time to apply for a marriage license or a court officiated civil wedding.
There is a special exception, for example, to the rule banning cameras in the courthouse for weddings performed there.
D.C. marriage bureau preparing for crush of same-sex couples
Posted on Mar 02, 2010 at 12:17 pm
D.C. Superior Court officials are preparing for what they expect to be a flood of same-sex couples descending on the courthouse Wednesday to apply for marriage licenses.
Wednesday is the first day that same-sex couples in the District can apply for licenses in the marriage office, in Room 4485.
Last hurdle removed to start of D.C. marriage freedom
Posted on Feb 27, 2010 at 01:18 pm
The D.C. Court of Appeals Friday denied a request by a Maryland minister for an injunction to block the city’s marriage equality law from taking effect March 3, ending the last potential obstacle to the start of gay nuptials the following week.
In a unanimous decision, Associate Judges Noel Kramer and Phyllis Thompson and Senior Judge John Steadman upheld a ruling last week by a D.C. Superior Court judge denying the injunction on grounds that it failed to meet the minimum requirements for such an action.
Editorial: Economic Reasons for the Freedom to Marry
Posted on Feb 21, 2010 at 10:27 pm
A committee of the Minnesota House of Representatives will hold a hearing Monday on three separate visions for extending greater rights to gay and lesbian couples. It marks the first time a legislative body in Minnesota has taken such an affirmative look; past discussion has sought only to constitutionally prohibit marriage equality.
Five states currently extend marriage rights to gays and lesbians, and they’re better off for it. Many Minnesotans, for example, are making the short journey south to wed in Iowa. A UCLA study last year estimated that Iowa’s state budget is getting a $5.4 million annual bump from marriage equality-derived tax receipts. This number doesn’t include the indirect boost to local businesses across the state.
As Goes Martha…Martha Stewart Wedding Features Same-Sex Couple for First Time
Posted on Dec 21, 2009 at 11:55 am
Good As You
December 21, 2009
Blogger Jeremy Hooper announces the profile of his wedding in the Winter 2010 edition of Martha Stewart Weddings, the first wedding of a same-sex couple to be featured in the magazine. (Link)
Congratulations Jeremy and Andrew!
South African Rites
Posted on Jul 20, 2009 at 11:10 am
July 16, 2009
A self-described "middle-class white man" from South Africa tells of his experiences in applying for and receiving a marriage ceremony for he and his black partner of nearly two decades through a government-run Home Affairs office in Edenvale, near Johannesburg. [Link]
The $9.5 Billion Marriage Equality Windfall
Posted on Jun 16, 2009 at 11:41 am
June 16, 2009
There are 781,267 same-sex couples living together in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau's 2005-07 American Community Survey. Talk about a stimulus package. While wedding-related revenues--snagged by small shops to giant corporations top $160 billion (an average wedding now costs $20,400), the industry has shrunk at an annualized 1.9% rate after inflation since 1999. If half of the same-sex couples got hitched, Forbes estimates that the industry would reap nearly $10 billion in additional revenue. [Link]
Gay rights battle puts strain on parties
Posted on Mar 24, 2009 at 04:08 pm