Ruling on gay marriage may mean millions more for Kansas economy

Photographer Chris Brubaker said he used to shoot 100 Wichita-area weddings in a year.

Since 2008, though, Brubaker has seen a decline in business. An increase in at-home amateur photographers, he said, has brought Weddings by Chris down to just 30 weddings a year.

Last month’s historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling now offers Brubaker another set of potential clientele: same-sex couples ready to tie the knot.

“They will hire just like a man and wife would,” said Brubaker, whose business is now Chris Brubaker Photography. “They would add to the photography business – and the wedding business overall.”

Same-sex weddings could provide Kansas’ economy with a lot of cash – $14.1 million in the first three years, according to a 2014 report from a Los Angeles-based think tank.

The trend across the country, according to the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Policy, is that half of same-sex couples in a state marry within the first three years of legalization.

In the first year alone, the report predicts a $9 million boost to the Kansas economy based on wedding, tourism and sales tax revenue.

“There’s pent-up demand for marriages,” said Christy Mallory, one of the report’s co-authors. “A lot of these people have been in relationships for a long time, and they would have gotten married before, but they couldn’t.”

Marriage by 2,005 same-sex Kansan couples could pump millions of dollars into the economy as couples plan weddings and out-of-town guests visit the Sunflower State.

The projections – based on the 2010 U.S. Census, the latest data available – are based on half of the same-sex couples in Kansas getting married.

“We find same-sex couples in 99 percent of U.S. counties,” she said. “People might think (same-sex couples) cluster around the coasts, but they’re in Kansas and the Plains states.”

Riverside Hair Salon advertises on Facebook as being LGBT friendly, which drummed up some stylings for commitment ceremonies.

“Part of it is our neighborhood, and part of it is that everybody knows they’re accepted here,” said owner Tammy Kelley.

Kelley said having gay stylists also helps encourage same-sex couples to come through the door.

Other businesses may not have worked with same-sex couples in the past but are eager to start.

“We would never turn anyone away,” said Amanda Standlee, a Tillie’s Flowers employee. “We’d be happy to do flowers for their same-sex wedding.”

Claire Toubia of Bagatelle Bakery said she is baking a cake for a same-sex couple’s August ceremony. The three tiers, each a different flavor, will cost the couple $180.

Nationwide, the report estimates same-sex marriages will lead to $2.6 billion in total spending in the first three years.

But not all businesses are as enthusiastic about the potential new source of income.

In Washington state, a florist is fighting a lawsuit after refusing to provide services for a gay wedding in 2013. That same year, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that a photographer who wouldn’t take pictures of a gay couple’s 2006 commitment ceremony violated the state’s discrimination law.

In a reliably red state like Kansas, there are bound to be businesses who refuse services to same-sex couples.

“That’s their personal preference,” said Brubaker, the photographer. “They’ve got strong beliefs.”

Businesses willing to serve these customers make money not only for themselves but also for Kansas. The Williams Institute estimates same-sex weddings will generate $1.15 million in local and state sales tax revenue and 75 to 225 jobs within three years.

Yet the figures included in the report could actually be greater than the report’s estimates, said Mallory, the co-author.

The report was based on same-sex couples spending a quarter of what other couples spend on weddings. This is often because of fewer guests, reduced financial support from families or already having spent money on a commitment ceremony. Yet new survey data suggest they spend closer to half of what other couples do, Mallory said.

The report also did not factor in fee revenue from marriage licenses.

This story was originally published July 19, 2015 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Ruling on gay marriage may mean millions more for Kansas economy."