A statistically improbable polymath's views on politics and culture.

 
Salon has an article on the business of gay weddings. This reminds me of a question I've been pondering for a while: why doesn't the marriage industry court gay clientele? Open gays are a small, yet relatively wealthy, segment of the population, concentrated in urban areas, and fairly trend-setting as a whole. Lesbian weddings would require two bridal outfits (and we all know that's where the money is); gay men are less embarrassed than straight men about interests in fashion and therefore would be more open to buying and wearing expensive tuxedos. And then there's the wedding industry itself. It's an artistic metier, many similar professions have offered a "haven" for gay men; hence, based upon extrapolation, one would expect a higher-than-average number of gays among the men who work in the wedding industry.

Of course, Big Wedding (TM) is scared of alienating conservative customers. That's fine. You don't have to let them know that you have a stack of brochures tailored to the same-sex crowd or that "Unconventional Ceremonies" doesn't just mean dual-officicant weddings. And if someone starts screaming that they saw an ad in the local gay community newspaper--well, why were they reading it in the first place?
posted by Maureen at 7:20 PM