Booming Industry: Lesbian and Gay Weddings

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Booming Industry: Lesbian and Gay Weddings

The gay-and-lesbian-wedding industry is booming in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and New Hampshire where same-sex civil unions or marriages are legal, reports The New York Times. Often, out-of-state couples travel to these states for ceremonies even though their unions may only be recognized by a handful of states. But the travel industry in the Northeast recognizes those unions as dollar signs. Competition has spiked among wedding sites, hotels, resorts and inns throughout the Northeast because same-sex ceremonies can draw scores of guests, who turn these destinations weddings into weekend stays. "When my mom started our business in 1999, she would go to stationery shows and people would just look at her like she was crazy," Kathryn Hamm, a same-sex-ceremony consultant in Virginia, told The New York Times. "A couple years later she went back and all of these vendors remembered her, and now they are begging her, 'What can we do to help?'" Read why gay marriage is good business.

Nelson Mandela Taken Off Terrorist Watch List?

Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first Black president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and his political party, the African National Congress, remain on the U.S. government's terrorist watch list, a fact that Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., plans to change, reports BlackAmericanWeb.com. Lee cosponsored legislation last week "to exempt the African National Congress (ANC) from treatment as a terrorist organization. It was hard to believe, I was shocked," Lee told BlackAmericaWeb.com Wednesday. She learned of the issue while visiting South Africa last year. "This should never have happened," Lee told BlackAmericaWeb. "The ANC should have never been on the watch list. The ANC was a liberation movement against apartheid, and the United States was on the wrong side of history. This makes no sense with regard to our foreign policy." Read about Barack Obama's tribute to Nelson Mandela.

Obama Talks to The Advocate, But Why So Late?

While Barack Obama's response to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's comments have garnered more than enough attention in the mainstream press, the Illinois senator has been dogged by a less-vocal group, the gay press. In an effort to show he is involved in LGBT issues, Obama recently sat with The Advocate, an LGBT magazine. "The gay press may feel like I'm not giving them enough love. But basically, all press feels that way at all times," Obama told The Advocate. "Obviously, when you've got limited amount of time, you've got so many outlets. We tend not to do a whole bunch of specialized press. We try to do general press for a general readership. But I haven't been silent on gay issues."  

Is U.S. Agriculture Moving to Mexico?

Congress sitting on the immigration topic has led to increased undocumented-worker raids and a decrease in the number of legal foreign workers allowed to enter the United States, which in turn has the U.S. agriculture industry suffering. But the Mexican government has a plan, reports New America Media. Mexico is promoting agri-maquilas, wherein U.S. farmers start growing operations in Mexico. In the1980s, this program was created to eliminate border crossings, but now it is enticing U.S. companies to go to the less-expensive labor. The payoff for Mexico has been increased foreign investment, which is up from less than $20 million in 2005 to more than $62 million in 2007. Of that amount, 95 percent is from the United States. Read how immigrants help the economy.

Xerox Settles Alleged Race-Discrimination Lawsuit

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