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Loading ...Post-election travel: Kalamazoo, anyone? And what about Maine?
11.05.2009 12:14pm EST
Tuesday’s elections results were decidedly a mixed bag. The big gay news story has revolved around the loss for gay marriage in Maine, and it certainly is disheartening. Does it even make sense for the public to vote on laws that affect a segment of the population, especially in a scenario which involves widely held public prejudices? That’s like asking New Yorkers to vote on whether folks from New Jersey should be allowed to drive! (I kid, I kid.)
But how do you think yesterday’s election results will influence gay travel patterns? Will queer innkeepers in the very LGBT-friendly and gay-welcoming town of Ogunquit, Maine suffer thanks to the same-sex marriage defeat? Will you change your Ogunquit travel plans and head to Provincetown instead, since Massachusetts has legal gay marriage? Does that even make sense when planning your vacation?
Ben Finzel is senior vice president and head of the public affairs practice at Widmeyer Communications, and has specialized in LGBT communications practice and travel, working with tourism bureaus and following travel trends. “Travel is a personal decision, particularly for our community,” offers Finzel. “Maine is a naturally beautiful state with many wonderful attractions and lots of great people – many of whom are LGBT. I think gay travelers need to make up their own minds to either choose to travel to Maine to demonstrate the positive power of our travel or choose to stay away to demonstrate the negative financial impact we can have on destinations that oppose LGBT equality. You can make a strong case for either position.”
Finzel continues: “Whether or not gay travelers choose to visit Maine in the future, I think we should all make a point of being out, visible and vocal in our travel decisions. Choose service providers that engage with our community and tell them that’s why we chose them. Consider whether or not we feel comfortable visiting specific destinations and engage people in those destinations as we’re considering where to go.”
Need some new possible places to consider as a result of Tuesday’s elections? Quite a few cities saw some gay victories. Chapel Hill, North Carolina will have a gay mayor as the newly elected Mark Kleinschmidt takes office. And Houston, America’s fourth-largest city, could have an openly lesbian mayor; Annise Parker scored the most votes in her race against her opponent; she now faces a heated run-off come December. These are good steps.
Meanwhile, other gays candidates won never-before-held city offices in Detroit, Akron, Ohio and St. Petersburg, Florida. And bless Kalamazoo, Michigan for passing a highly debated ordinance protecting LGBT rights. Now in Kalamazoo it will be illegal to discriminate against gay, lesbian and transgendered individuals in the areas of hiring, housing and public accommodation in the Michigan city. And Washington State saw its domestic partnership laws upheld, too.
But what does this mean for LGBT travel. Do election results influence where you go?
Certainly, the LGBT community always pays attention to how gay-friendly a destination is, legislatively or culturally. And we’ve gotten quite good at picking out which companies we travel with based on their queer-friendly practices. That needn’t change.
“Increasingly, gay travelers are thinking much more strategically about where we spend our travel dollars,” says Finzel. “We look at the level of engagement that airlines and car rental companies have with our community, we consider the role of hoteliers in anti-gay ballot initiatives and we consider how gay-friendly a destination might be based on factors such as safety, role of pro-gay companies in their communities, etc. With so many travel providers and destinations taking an active role in proactively and positively seeking our business, we are realizing we have choices and can choose not to support anti-gay companies or destinations with our travel dollars.”
“I think the next big trend is going to be our community looking for, and demanding, that companies and destinations that want our business earn it with active involvement in opposing anti-gay ballot initiatives and related efforts,” Finzel says. “It won’t be enough for travel industry leaders (or other corporate leaders, for that matter) to say they are gay-friendly: they’ll have to demonstrate they mean it by actively supporting a No On 1 effort (Maine) or a Yes on 71 effort (Washington) and speaking out against attempts to legislate hate.”
Hear that gay-positive travel companies? We commend you on your great LGBT-supportive business practices. But, it’s time to take your gay investment up a notch. It’s getting personal.
So… See you in Maine next summer! Maybe.
Bob and Jesseika, I so agree with you both about boycotting states and businesses that do everything in their power to take away our civil rights; either through the ballot box (which is totally unconstitutional as no one group has the legal right to vote to take away the 14th amendment rights of another)or through business policies. The problem I see is that the young gay generation is too interested in White Parties and Drag Contests to have a social conscience or political thought on any subject of significance. I am a 50 year educated, professional Gay Man partnered to another educated Gay Man for 18 years. We have chosen for many years to use our money and our words to make the world better for any group that faces discrimination at the hands of the Right Winged Religious Zealots who would turn America into a Theocracy with Intolerance and Bigotry
the focal point of its governmental system. We have given our time and money to HRC, LAMBDA and every other GLBT organization that has us on the mailing list and you can see what a great job they have done of fending off the forward push of the anti-marriage groups in CA. and ME. It’s time Gay Men and Lesbians take to the streets like the Civil Rights movement of the 60s and 70s and show everyone that we are a force to be reckoned with.
I was planning on buying, among other things, a brand new Honda minivan from Washington state (I live about 45 minutes from the border- in Vancouver.) But considering that if I were married, it wouldn’t be recognized, I think I’ll continue to drive my Odyssey made in Ontario, continue to buy Alberta beef, and continue to eat fruit from Abbotsford. Until your country grows up, to hell with you
I am boycotting California, Washington, Maine, and Utah. Whenever possible, I will not travel to any of those states, buy anything from any company headquartered in those states, or buy anything from a seller located in those states. In practice, it is mostly against CA, but I am watching out for things from the other states.
When buying my new laptop, I got an Asus instead of an HP because HP is from CA.
I understand the frustration, but if we boycott Maine – and by default all the GLBT businesses therein – wouldn’t the anti-gay movement there relish when GLBT businesses suffered, maybe even have to close. Wouldn’t that just mean less Fags in their state.
I wonder if there’s a way we can continue supporting LGBT businesses there, yet apply boycott measures in some other fashion so the state gets the message.
Any ideas?
hello Friends i do agree with some of you Yes Yes cancell any orders witht he state of maine hit them with no money and no orders to be fill s and canell if they should ask why them tell them the truth fair is fair do business with friendly company and fariness hit in the wallet it hurts whent he cashier is nor ring ring no sale hum hum
Vote with your dollars…
The following emails for Washington’s(tourism@cted.wa.gov) and maine’s (mtainfo@mainetourism.com) tourism boards.
Change your travel plans for next year to Washington and boycott maine.
If you do cancel your travel plans be sure to call the hotels or inns and tell them why. Perhaps call the chamber of commerce. I wish I had called or written the companies I boycotted after prop H8 passed. If you cancel your order for Lobsters let them know why.
Tom in Long Beach (Long Beach voted No on
My husband and I go to New England every summer as I grew up on the MA NH border. We always take a trip to Maine, along the coast and have lobster. Honestly, it would never feel the same again, sorry but I’ll never go back.
I guess you could make a case for boycotting Maine, but the most popular LGBT destinations York county (Ogunquit) and Cumberland county (Portland) were the reasons we came as close as we did to winning. Why penalize them after they exhausted themselves canvassing and fund-raising? Had they taken our tourist dollars and said ’screw you guys’ a boycott would make more sense, but that’s not what happened. There’s a lot of emotional devastation and anger going on right now. We need to support a strong local community to continue the fight for that 5% of the vote that will get us over the finish line next time.
Yup. We lost Maine. Is it really that big or suprise? I was pissed when I found out, but not very surprised. My spirit has been pretty much broken since the 2nd ruling on Prop 8. I’m tired of fighting.
randy said
“The Maine result seemed to be a rural-urban split more than anything else”
It was the same thing in WA state, which is why the conservatives in the eastern half of the state are upset (not surprising since every time there is an election they are upset) its because the population centers like King county, (Seattle and all its suburbs)Whatcom(the one I live in)Skagit, Snohomish, Kitsap, Thursten, Jeferson, Clallam, Island, and San Juan, are in the Puget sound, the liberal part of the state. http://vote.wa.gov/Elections/WEI/ResultsByCounty.aspx?ElectionID=32&RaceID=102369&CountyCode=%20&JurisdictionTypeID=-2&RaceTypeCode=M&ViewMode=Results
this brake down by the Secretary of States office shows it really well.
It makes GREAT sence to boycott state’s that deny EQUAL RIGHTS!
Money makes the world go round & if places like maine lose the visitor income then the majority will feel the consequences fianacaly.Then they can chioce whats worse equality for all or unemployment for ALOT!
Dont boycot CALLY not with governator sighning law that ALL marriages are equal nomatter when or were they took place! Then judge walker issueing the challange that prop 8 supporters MUST PROVE that gay marriage damages straight marriage.So only matter of a few months & 8 WILL BE HISTORY!
Vote with your wallet. Don’t mean to hurt the GLBT businesses in Main, I will not be spending one penny on any products from Main. I will make sure to avoid the state.
What does Main have that its GLBT friendly neighbors don’t I work for an airline and travel often. This year I canceled trips to CA. Collectively we have a significant amount of money. I say use it as our best weapon. Boycott Main and California.
I would like our leaders to organize a national pandemic of Pink Flu. Imagine if everyone who identifies themselves as part of the GLBT community call in sick for a week or two.
Bob
The Maine result seemed to be a rural-urban split more than anything else. I’m pretty sure Maine blueberries come from the rural side of that divide.