Long before gay marriage became legal this year in NH, Grace Newman has catered to the lesbian community at The Highland Inn in Bethlehem, including coordinating commitment ceremonies. Word-of-mouth and Newman's own marketing strategy, billing the inn as "a lesbian paradise," brought in business and continues to draw couples to her inn-so much so that she may need to add to her weekend staff to help coordinate ceremonies.
Since January, Newman has booked 16 weddings at the inn, and wedding season is just kicking in. "The vast majority of our business comes from outside New Hampshire-people coming here to get married, maybe go out to a restaurant and do the whole tourist thing," says Newman. The Inn is conveniently close to the Vermont border, where civil unions have been recognized since July of 2000.
Newman says she believes that as long as there are a limited number of states recognizing same-sex unions, the opportunity for NH businesses to capitalize on this niche is strong. "We're just starting to see ceremonies becoming more elaborate," Newman says. "Gay marriage definitely is having a positive economic impact here, and that will continue to grow if a lot of other states don't have gay marriage."
According to Stephen Wurtz, acting director of the state Department of Vital Statistics, 621 civil unions were performed in NH in 2008 and 198 in 2009. A provision of the state's gay marriage law is that civil unions automatically convert to marriage by the end of 2010. Including the 471 same-sex marriages already performed this year, State Rep. Jim Splaine, D-Portsmouth, says the number of individuals who will have taken advantage of the new law will be well over 2,000 by year's end.
As a key proponent of marriage equality in NH, Splaine says economics was a big part of successfully promoting the legislation. "A strong argument used in lobbying for this bill was that it would be good for our economy," says Splaine. "New England is where gay and lesbian couples come to get married." He says national sites like www.gayellowpages.com, provide gay and lesbian couples interested in getting married in a state where it is now legal with regional resources as a jumping off place.
New Hampshire is the most recent of five states and the District of Columbia currently allowing gay marriage, along with Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa. Ed Butler, owner and operator of Notchland Inn in Hart's Location, has only recently begun advertising his place as a destination for gay couples. Because he and his partner in business and life, Les Schoof, are gay and have been together for more than 30 years, they have always been recognized as a "gay- friendly" destination, based on word of mouth. "Our strategy in expanding our advertising is to capitalize on the fact that gay marriage is legal now. It's certainly a niche market for us, as gay innkeepers," says Butler, a state representative for Carroll County's District 1. He's also a justice of the peace, allowing him to officiate onsite marriage ceremonies. In April he married a gay couple from Michigan looking for a wedding destination. They chose NH based on his ad.
"Having gay marriage throws a broader economic net for New Hampshire businesses. The couple from Michigan, once they got here, rented a couple of morning suits and hired a local photographer for photos. We always provide a small cake for elopements from a local bakery, and they got calla lilies for their lapels from a local florist," Butler says. "And of course, everyone who gets married in New Hampshire has to pay the $45 for a license, so it adds up. It's all going back into New Hampshire's economy."
