California Gay Marriage Ban Bad For Business

NY Times:

SAN FRANCISCO -- A week before Election Day, Christopher Burnett's floral shop filled an order for one of the many same-sex weddings he has worked in the last five months: eight corsages, a dozen boutonnieres and two bouquets for the two brides, each with three dozen roses.

Now, Mr. Burnett said, since Tuesday's voter approval of Proposition 8, which amended the state's Constitution to recognize only marriages between men and women, that type of business is gone.

"I have done a gay wedding every week," he said. "And so it's very disheartening, because other business is very slow."

Read the whole story: NY Times

Comments

[BluePrideSMW]

I trust President-Elect Obama. He had to take stands during the campaign to ensure no blow ups. I trust that right will prevail. And I am very, sad and disappointed. I'm glad I had many hours of Obama-only excitement and thrill before learning of prop HATE = 8 passage. In the second vid lQQk and you'll see it's black, white, brown, yellow, red, immigrant, gay, disabled, poor, women, ALL struggling people who have earned FREEDOM and EQUALITY.

The Obamas are Moving On UP!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf3uGsMxsoQ

A sublime Moms Mabley version of Abraham, Martin & John. It's President-Elect Obama's Legacy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge32xtm23rQ

[Crozier]

For generations, the Republican party was the Party of African Americans and Abraham Lincoln. After Reconstruction and during Plessy and Jim Crow, the Dixiecrat Southern Democrats made a sat anic pact with the National Democratic party. The Republicans were complicit. Silence and studied neglect ruled the day as the K K K rode, and lynchings were either illegal or in kangaroo courts with the stench of legality.

Gays and lesbians - from billionaires like David Geffen to poor marginal brothers and sisters - worked, and gave time and treasure to the Obama and Biden campaigns. Millions of votes in important states. And oh yes, we have straight families and friends and siblings who vote with us too.

Barack made the gay and lesbian citizens of the United States some promises. He will keep them.
His own parent's marriage was considered illegal outside few states like HI where he was born.
BARACK OBAMA WAS LEGALLY "ILLEGITIMATE ISSUE" IN MOST STATES WHEN HE WAS BORN IN 1961. IN THAT DAY, BIRTH CERTIFICATES STATED YOUR PARENT'S MARITAL STATUS AND YOUR LEGITIMACY OR LACK OF IT. The majority cannot remove my rights and my MONEY and give it to bastards who hate us., YES, WE WILL DEMAND OBAMA LIVE UP TO HIS PROMISES, YESIRREE

[Crozier]

In Canada, my spouse reminds me, the Canadian activists - who won national and provincial rights to civil marriage - had a way to both honor those who supported them and a way to identify their enemies who were sworn to turn back the clock to anti-sodomy legislation.

To Californians and California Celebrities and Businesses who support us in our efforts to overturn Proposition 8 in the courts http://www.lambdalegal.org there is the HONOR ROLL . The others we have the opportunity to boycott their goods or services or work product, we have the HALL OF SHAME.

LGBT affirming churches, synagogues or other religious groups need to have a prominent place on our HONOR ROLL. Papists whose bishops and priests engaged in pedophilia and seek to deflect attention by scapegoating gay and lesbian couples and families have joined their theological and sheep-stealing opponents, the Right Wing Theocratic cults and the Magic Underwear Polygamist Fertility Cult.

[repugnicansfearme]

First off, I am a supporter of gay rights. But, let's hope this movement doesn't get their back up to the point where they are making demands upon Obama and the Dem majority to tackle these issues during his administration. We are fighting two wars. The economy is a mess. I don't hear people sitting around the coffee shop kvethcing about whether or not they can marry their partner or not. And, of course, some of the people in the coffee shop are openly gay. Apparently, there were enough anti-gay marriage supporters in California to overturn your marriage party. If California cannot pass this, who the heck can? We just elected a black man as president of the United States. Blacks in this country did not choose the color of their skin. If gay Americans choose to marry someone, they are going to have to work within the system to change the law. You lost this one. Get back to work and pass it next time. If you can't pass something, don't expect an Executive Order to help you out, like the "don't ask, don't tell" under Clinton. You don't have the support for something like this. Good luck.

[abbeyroad]

it WILL be overturned.

you can't change the constitution by a popular vote. a 2/3 vote of the legislature can do it.

the bottom line:
yes on prop 8 is unconstitutional, and this will be confirmed by the supreme court judges.

THE LAW IS THE LAW -- a duck IS a duck.

[MagisterLudi]

you can't change the constitution by a popular vote. "

Really?! In which bar did you get this nugget of legal wisdom?

[bellrich]

Marriage is a Religious right therefore protected under the first Amendment and should not be Regulated by any US Governments. It is up to the individual Churches to come to terms with their own prejudice to do and not to do same sex marriages. Civil Union has to be accepted as the first step in a long road that may take many generations, but the day will come when it is accepted by most of the people of the world.

[Crozier]

Your answer, if you can read is http://www.lambdalegal.org

[aubrey8]

Just have the fing wedding at the fing flower shop. doesn't have to be legal, it's the thought thast counts.

[weatherwaxx]

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/review-the-501c3-status-of-the-church-of-latter-day-saints-the-mormons

A petition to ask the IRS to review the tax-exempt status of the Mormon church. If they want to pump money into another state's government like a PAC, they should be taxed as ones.

Doesn't anyone find it ironic that a church that originally practiced polygamy (and still does in some of its less-approved subsets) was dumping $ into another state to define marriage as one-man, one-woman? (And while we're on irony, tell me where Jesus said that? And how many wives Solomon had?)

Jesus didn't like hypocrites, and I don't either.

[dlinguist]

IRS is not the path, sadly. Heck, they gave scientology a free pass.

[craneman]

I would also imagine that any Mormon seeking political office, maybe should consider another line of work.

[chicago25624]

The people have spoken. You know, like when they spoke up for change and elected a soc ial ist. We were told to shut up when the people spoke on le ft issues. So now the people have spoken and it's your turn to shut up.

A duck is a duck, and we will have no more terms redefined to appease a small minority.

Good for you str aigh t people in California

[weatherwaxx]

Oh, WILL you please google "socialism" and stop using McPalin as a dictionary? Obama is no more a socialist than you are.

[Crozier]

Palin did NOT know the countries in North America ( she didn't know Mexico) and she thought Africa was a nation and not a continent and that South Africa was a region and not a country.

These statements and the QUARTER MILLION DOLLAR SHOPPING SPREE WERE REVEALED BY THE RETHUGLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE. THE TRUTH HURTS.

McCain and the Rethuglicans wanted a dunce with T and A a heartbeat away from a potential elderly terminal cancer patient. Socialist, my arse.

[Eric8869]

The republican idiots from the suburbs of Chicago really know nothing about the world. They drive from their homes to the strip malls and back again. They don't know black people, they don't know gay people - they just recite what they hear on right wing radio as if they have an opinon of their own.

[chicago25624]

A name is not always where someone is from.

[Crozier]

Jim Crow laws were born out of the infamous Plessy v Ferguson decision that enshrined SEPARATE BUT EQUAL....which is a lie in itself for being disenfranchised and declared second class made you unable to marry outside your race. At this time, many considered African Americans to be devoid of souls and full human nature.

The Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, KS in 1954 was a controversial law that took the Civil Rights Act of 1965 to implement. In that twelve year interim, nothing changed.

BUT, AND LISTEN.....IT TOOK UNTIL 1967 FOR BLACKS TO MARRY WHITES IN ALL STATES OF THE UNITED STATES....OR FOR WHITES TO MARRY YELLOW RACE ASIANS AFTER WWII IN ALL STATES.

If you read the opponents of Interracial Marriage and replace Interracial with Gay, you will find that the SAME REASONS AND THE SAME FAULTY RELIGION IS IN PLAY.

[Crozier]

When you read this - ponder the fact that President-­electObama was an illegitimate child of criminal parents in most states of the UnitedStates for an illegal interracial union.....and that he was six years old before the SupremeCourt decided LovingvVirginia in 1967.......and that many AfricanAmericans are gays and lesbians....

When AbrahamLincoln emancipated the African-de­scendedsla­ves and made them Americans counted as one full human being., the marriage issue was nonexistent. Like cattle, the slaves were bred indiscriminately and their progeny were listed in a CATTLE STUDBOOK. When the society evolved, slaves were allowed to JUMP THE BROOM. This open "marriage" could be altered by the slaveowner with another stud slave or with himself if he needed someone to work in the main house.

Emancipation meant that finally marriage was permitted. The black minister was given the right to act as justice of the peace for "colored weddings." Then came the end of Reconstruction in 1877, and the

[jaystin]

How dare they assess the economic impact of the ban when we just lost our legal rights. Not only does California not deserve our money or anyone else in the country's, but this state deserves a big scarlet letter for shame accross its Constitution.

Shame on California, and shame on the people of California for giving into the fears of homophobia. I am so disgusted and annoyed that once again we are second-class citizens.

[pyrojen]

No, we SHOULD be thinking about the economic impact of this decision. Let's face it -- for being one of the first states to recognize gay marriage, California received a well-deserved economic "high-5" from the gay community in terms of the $$ generated from weddings and tourism. Now we've lost it and earned the shame of our remaining homophobia being broadcast across the nation.

Economics IS one of the consequences of the decision.

My hope is that the LGBT community will ignore prop 8 and continue to marry, just like any straight couple could. Then the married gay couples should file suit against California whenever they are denied some right that is given to straight couples. And by the way, aren't there CHURCHES out there -- maybe MCC -- that recognize gay marriage? They should continue to marry gay couples, and file suit for their freedom of religious expression if anyone gives them sh*t about it.

Sometimes, the only thing to do is to REFUSE TO MOVE TO THE BACK OF THE BUS!!!

[Dave01]

All the state really needs to do to solve this issue once and for all is change the title from "Marriage License" to "Civil Marriage License" which would apply to ALL future "marriages". By naming it a Civil Marriage License it removes ANY and ALL religious connotations.

[Crozier]

I disagree. Simply stated, marriage is the civil institution that the world recognizes as the name of the marital union, and which 6 civilized nations already do, including our neighbor to the north.

Separate but equal is separate and unequal. UNTIL AND UNLESS every married couple, from your grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts uncles, siblings, children will surrender their civil marriage licenses whether they received it from a clergyman or a justice of the peace.

If the Papists, the Evangelical Right Wing Religionists or the Magic Underwear Mormons want to limit whom they give their worthless religious documents to, it is fine with me. Only the State will issue civil marriage licenses. They call their ceremony anything devoid of legal meaning.

[weatherwaxx]

I think all unions should be registered LEGALLY as "civil unions." The government doesn't belong in the marriage business. The civil ceremony could be as simple as getting a wedding license is, and the actual religious 'marriage' ceremony could be anything the couple wants.

The civil registry is necessary for division of property and responsibility for children, if any. The religious vows are not the government's affair anyway.

Given how short the average "sacred" marriage is anyway -- I know some same-sex couples who've been together several times the hetersexual average. And they still like each other!

[Crozier]

Correction of second paragraph......

UNTIL AND UNLESS....­..........­...then I disagree with any change in the law as it stands.

[Dave01]

It's about frickin' time someone FINALLY delved into the economic impact this has on the state. I sincerely hope that ALL 18,000 of those couples who got married and whose marriages will more than likely become annulled, file a class action lawsuit against the state, not only for the cost of the marriage licenses but for ALL expenses that went along with their ceremonies, the receptions, the catering, etc. Screw the taxpayers, they did this to themselves. Bankrupt the state completely. We are talking perhaps into the billions of dollars.

[Crozier]

You did not mention whether or not you were married ? Family? We partnered in 1976 and married in 2003 in Toronto and our son was born that year. He will turn 6 in January.

Anger knows no bounds when your rights are abolished, let alone abridged. California law recognized Canadian marriages, but ironically you had to have repeated the marriage vows (which they said was not only unnecessary but illegal) for Attorney General and former governor Jerry Brown to protect your rights in the interim.

I say interim. The law is being challenged in the courts. There is a precedent. There are certain major issues that cannot amend the constitution with a simple majority vote. In 1990, a proposition attempting to remove special judicial privileges passed the voters, and was overturned by the courts.

The businesses were our friends. They suffer too. Blame the Roman Catholic bishops and priests (isn't that deeply sick as they scapegoat normal gay and lesbian couples and families to draw attention away from their pedophilia) the polygamous cultish LDS with polygamy in their history and in their breakaway cults, and the Dominionist Theocratic Right Wing Religionists.

There is also the apathy of many who did not vote. There is the abomination that some self-loathing gays and lesbians voted against themselves. There are those who Judas goated the community.

PROPOSITION 8 WILL BE OVERTURNED.....THE ARC OF JUSTICE IS WIDE BUT THE IRON IS HOT......http://www.lambalegal.org

[Crozier]

http://www.lambdalegal.org/

[cornagainstsorcery]

Excellent article.

[fdavidm]

When African-Americans and Latino workers lose their jobs because the caterers, dressmakers, florists, and wedding novelty makers can no longer afford to keep them on their payrolls because this business will lose considerable income due to the elimination of gay weddings in the state of California, maybe these close-minded bigots will understand what it's like to lose something they hold dear. From now on spare me the speeches about civil rights, affirmative action and immigration reform. I'm turning a deaf ear on this narrow-minded crowd of bigots.

[Dave01]

Come on now, don't go there. African-Americans (who make up less than 7% of the state's population) didn't vote for this measure in a monolithic group. 70% voted for it, but 30% did not! More than 40% of Latinos voted against the measure. If we have anyone to blame it is the lack of leadership within the gay community for NOT building alliances with those groups that we help through our voting behavior. Many of them don't realize how much we have supported them. By the way, the largest voting block that voted in favor of this measure were 65+ year old whites.

For everyone who voted against Prop 8, I personally thank you. For those who voted in favor of Prop 8, I say please educate yourself. Imagine being told that you are no longer allowed to get married or that your marriage is no longer recognized by the state. Better yet, imagine that it is your child who comes out to you at the age of 20. Are you really in favor of denying your child the happiness that they, as not only your child but as an American citizen, are entitled to?

[Crozier]

To some Right Wing Religionists, or pseudo-Christians, the answer is a very sad and despicable YES.

[fdavidm]

Excuse me Dave. Something is wrong with your math. The Black and Latino vote put this hateful amendment over-the-top. More than 50% of Whites and Asians voted against this amendment. 70% of Blacks and 54% of Latinos voted in favor of it. So let me repeat :Blacks and Latinos votes passed this bill. The bill passed by roughly 4% of the votes cast and if Blacks make up 7% of the state, you draw your own conclusion. Hence my funds and my interest get withdrawn from Black and Latino causes and are now being redirected exclusively to gay rights and gay-related causes. Bad choices have consequences and Blacks and Latinos in California made a bad choice.