If the
rainbow-painted deck chairs, fluttering rainbow flag, and
purple shutters do not make it clear, the Highlands
Inn's toll-free number, 877-LES-B-INN, leaves no doubt
as to whom this White Mountains resort in New
Hampshire caters.
Innkeeper Grace
Newman began hosting commitment ceremonies at this
self-proclaimed ''lesbian paradise'' -- in the 1980s. Newman
says she has lost track of the number of commitment
ceremonies that have happened there; she estimates
about 300 couples have honeymooned at the inn after
getting civil unions in Vermont or marriages in Quebec,
Canada, both short drives away.
In 2008, the
inn's 25th anniversary coincides with another milestone:
legal recognition of civil unions by New Hampshire beginning
January 1. Newman, veteran host and overseer of many a
union, has not wasted any time in getting bookings
from her own state.
From the North
Country to the statehouse steps, other gay couples are
making similar plans.
''It would be
pretty easy to take a little break from the party and
celebrate some civil unions,'' said Newman, who plans to get
her own civil union with longtime partner Maria Doyle
in September at the inn.
The new law
plants another rainbow-colored flag in the northeastern New
England states, which has grown increasingly gay-friendly
since Vermont became the first state to legalize civil
unions in 2000. It has been a quick reversal for New
Hampshire, where as recently as 2004 lawmakers reacted
to Massachusetts's same-sex marriage law by passing a ban on
recognizing those unions in New Hampshire.
The new law makes
civil unions the equivalent of marriage in all respects
but name.
Beginning in
2008, five of six New England states will provide some form
of legal recognition to same-sex couples: marriage in
Massachusetts; civil unions in Vermont, New Hampshire,
and Connecticut; domestic partnerships in Maine. Rhode
Island does not allow same-sex marriages but is among
the few states that recognize ones performed in
Massachusetts.
As ceremonies for
gay couples go mainstream in New Hampshire, some
innkeepers, hotel managers, and tourism marketers are
working to get some of the expected upswing in
business.
''I think it can
turn into another niche market for lodging properties
and all of our wedding folks who provide services:
photographers, florists, bakers, sleigh rides, the
whole gamut,'' said Janice Crawford, executive
director of the chamber of commerce in the Mount Washington
Valley -- a tourism-rich swath of ski resorts, retail
outlets, and small amusement parks in northern New
Hampshire.
Crawford said she
started thinking about civil unions packages when the
law passed in spring 2007. The chamber markets a website of
gay-friendly businesses and features civil union
packages as they come available, she said. Speaking
recently in her office, Crawford tossed out her pitch:
''Plan your civil union ceremony around your vacation.''
In Bradford,
innkeeper Lesley Marquis said she has heard from couples who
have seen her advertisement on the state tourism website for
a $350 civil unions package at her Rosewood Country
Inn. ''Weddings are big for us, whether [they're
for] regular couples or gay couples,'' she said.
''I think there are going to be a lot of people trying to do
it, so I think that having it on the state site will
benefit us.''
Marquis's first
civil-union booking is from Sian Strobridge and Katie
Bosse of Manchester, who are planning their ceremony to
coincide with their third anniversary on February 2.
Strobridge and Bosse have their details set: A weekend
at the Rosewood Country Inn with family and close
friends; a beaded ivory gown for Sian and a tuxedo for
Katie; a gourmet dinner by caterers at Canterbury
Shaker Village; calla lilies for the bridal bouquet;
hair and makeup appointments for Sian.
''In one aspect I
see myself as a typical bride,'' said Strobridge, 34,
an assistant manager at a Manchester boutique.
So far the couple
have committed $5,000 for the event and weekend; they
plan to follow up in June with a weekend party for 200 at an
apple orchard, Strobridge said, adding, ''That one we
haven't even come up with a budget yet. That's going
to be quite expensive.''
State
record-keepers recently distributed thousands of civil
unions documents to city and town clerks, who began
offering the licenses for a $45 fee on December 10.
William Bolton, director of the state Vital Records
Administration, said officials took the number of civil
unions performed in Vermont in 2000 -- 1,704 -- and
roughly doubled that for their estimate that 3,500 to
4,000 couples will get civil unions in New Hampshire
in 2008. About 10,000 couples in New Hampshire marry every
year, Bolton said.
While the civil
unions estimate could be high -- ceremonies in Vermont
spiked early on before dropping significantly as other
states legalized them -- some estimate that civil
unions could add millions to New Hampshire's economy.
A 2005 study
predicted that legalizing same-sex marriage in New Hampshire
would bring in an additional $630,000 a year in rooms and
meals taxes in the first three years. The study, by
the Williams Project on Sexual Orientation and Public
Policy at the UCLA School of Law, was funded by two
national gay rights groups. It estimated that half the 2,703
same-sex couples counted in the 2000 census in New
Hampshire would choose to marry within three years if
marriage was offered to them. A subsequent study in
2006 calculated that 1,352 gay couples, each spending about
$7,600 -- or one quarter of the $30,510 straight
couples spend on weddings in New Hampshire -- would
spend more than $10.3 million on weddings if they were
allowed to marry.
Given a new
census estimate for 2005 of 5,500 same-sex couples in the
state -- more than twice the 2000 total -- the spending
could be even higher, said University of Massachusetts
economist Lee Badgett, author of both studies.
Cindy Sproul is
co-owner of Rainbow Wedding Network, an online wedding
registry for gay brides and grooms. She says her Web site
has recorded a noticeable increase in New Hampshire
users since the company hosted a gay wedding expo in
Portsmouth in October.
''The amount of
registries that come through is about 25 to 40 a week,
and I can tell you that more is coming from New Hampshire
right now than any other area,'' said Sproul, who is
based in North Carolina.
Back at the
Highlands Inn, Newman expects business to be brisk.
''I think what
we'll find is that there are an awful lot of gay and
lesbian couples in New Hampshire, so there will be lots, I'm
sure, of civil unions in the first year or so,'' she
said. ''I've already talked to people about 2009, so I
think that there will be many.'' (Beverley Wang, AP)
