Minn. mayor urges Chicago gays to wed in his city

Doug Stanglin | USA TODAY

With an eye on boosting tourism, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak visited a predominantly gay Chicago neighborhood Thursday to urge same-sex couples to tie the knot in Minnesota under his state's new gay-marriage law.

"Hey Chicago! I want to marry you in Minneapolis" is part of the ad campaign in Chicago newspapers that coincides with the mayor's visit.

In August, Minnesota became the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage.

Rybak took his message to the Center on Halsted, a community center in Lakeview, Chicago's most high-profile gay neighborhood.

Rybak is hoping to tap into frustration among gay couples in Illinois over the Legislature's failure by a few votes to pass its own gay marriage law in the spring.

"Right now, this is about hospitality, but if we keep the competitive advantage for a long time, Minnesota can continue to take a lot of talent from Chicago where the city may be welcoming, but it certainly doesn't give them the same rights," Rybak told WGN-TV.

Asked at a press conference whether it was fair to try to persuade residents of another city to leave to get married, Rybak referred to Chicago's famous competitive mayor in joking: "Have you met Mayor (Rahm) Emanuel? He would do this to me every day of the week."

If successful, Rybak, who is partnering with the Meet Minneapolis, Convention and Visitors Association, plans to take his campaign to Milwaukee, Madison, Denver and possibly Detroit.

"These are all logical parts of the center of the country where some people don't have the same rights as in Minnesota," Rybak tells the Chicago Tribune.



Emanuel clearly recognizes the financial stakes at risk if gay couples head out of state.

"Failing to extend marriage to gay and lesbian couples is bad for Chicago, bad for Illinois and bad for our local economy and the jobs it creates," he said in a statement. "Our robust tourism and hospitality industries will thrive most fully when our state hangs out the 'welcome' sign for everybody."

The Illinois Legislature may revisit the issue this fall.

A study by the Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California School of Law, predicts a $42 million boost to Minnesota's economy in the first three years of the new law, including $28 million in new wedding spending and $14 million through tourism from out-of-town guests.

The Williams Institute, which does research on sexual orientation and gender identity, estimates that if Illinois legalized same-sex marriage, it could bring in as much as $103 million in wedding and tourism over three years.

The institute also finds that in the three states that track such statistics, 60% of same-sex couples are traveling out of their home states to get married.

Contributing: The Associated Press