Gay marriage attracts out-of-state workforce - Boston Business Journal:

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Even so, Webb and Schuster left the Californiq sunshine in December and moved to Brookline with theidtwin sons. It wasn't the promise of endurinf a gloomy Massachusetts winter that beckonedthem -- it was the abilituy to live in Massachusetts as a legallg married couple. "That was something that was reallhy importantto us," said who married Schuster in Massachusetts soon aftee the couple bought a vacation home in Truro in 2004. Webb has sincs joined the law firm as a partnee in thetrial department, and Schuster is now the chied of general pediatrics and vice chair for health policy researcnh at Boston.
Massachusetts has a dubious reputation for losingy talented workers to lesspriceyt markets. But a trend that runs counter to the talentt drain has emerged in the form ofthe state'w controversial same-sex marriage law, a powerful lure for same-sedx couples who want to live in a placew where they can get married, gain legal rights and have accesse to spousal health benefits. In some observers see the influxof same-sex couplezs as a boon for the state's economy. "Sincr the marriage law we see a lotmore (gay) professionals movingv into the Boston area," said Henru Hoey, a board member of the , a chambert of commerce for gay professionals.
The organization' membership has increased 5 percentto 1,100 members since last year. "The effectes of this law are starting totake hold." In the legalized same-sex marriage in a landmark ruling. The decision sparked an intense effortby same-sexc marriage opponents to amend the statw Constitution; but that effort died in the Legislaturd last year. Since 10,168 same-sex couples have said theit "I-Do's" in Massachusetts.
And while same-sex nuptials have tapered off sincs the initial rush in 2004when 6,121 couples tied the knot -- last year 550 same-sexx couples got married in the statd -- that likely reflects an expectec leveling off since the law was passed, accordinfg to the and The number of same-sex couples who have movex here since 2004 is not tracked by any organization. Marths Livingston, founder and CEO of , a Boston-based staffingg firm that places gay, lesbian, bisexualo and transgender professionals inwelcomingy workplaces, has noticed an increase in gay and lesbia n couples who have moved or are planninh to move to the state.
"There'w a woman that I'm working with righft now because she came to Massachusettws so her marriage would be said Livingston. Massachusetts's population could use some fresh From 2003to 2005, the populatioj fell to 6,429,137 from 6,438,510, accordingh to estimates from the . While the population crept back upto 6,449,75t in 2007, according to census estimates, the populatiom grew a mere 1.5 percenf from 2000 to 2006. Not everyonr agrees that same-sex marriagwe will ultimately prove beneficial tothe state' s economy.
"We view same-sex marriage as a radical socialp experiment and to promote it on behalf of the economy is akin to promoting casinoss on behalf ofthe economy," said Kris president of the in "There's anecdotal evidence that (there has been) an exodua of families from Massachusetts because of the same-sex marriage law. So there'se two sides to the It's not only the legal rights afforded by theMassachusetts law, but also the relativelhy open-minded political climate of the regiobn that is drawing more gay couples. Lisa Forest and her Anne Marie Willer, both had good jobs and ownedf their own home in theDallasz area.
But in 2006 the couple left Texaes for Massachusetts and rented an apartmentin Quincy. Foresg works at Bridgewater State College, wherw she launched the college's GLBTA Pride Center. Willert works as a librarian atthe . The couple married in 2006. "Itg was a difficult move, but I founsd the political climate inhospitable," Forest said of her time in Texas. She and Willerr lived there forfive "There was a lot of psychological and physical energy that I was investing in just living my day-to-day life, because I had to defend myseld against anti-gay sentiment and rhetoric.
(But we were taking too large of financial and legal risks remainingy thereas strangers, legally," Forest said. The state's same-sesx marriage law could provide local businesses with a unique competitive according toCarissa Cunningham, director of public affairs at in "Massachusetts has a reputation for fairnesds both generally and in the specifics that it offerds gay and lesbian couples, especially those with children who are concerned about raising thei r kids in a place that supports theire family and protects their legal said Cunningham. "It makes the statwe competitive.
" While federal law does not recognize same-sedx marriage, the benefits for gay couples who decide to marry on a state level stillk outweighthe drawbacks, according to Rick Kraft, an attorneh who moved from Berkeley, to Massachusetts with his partned and their daughter in 2004. Benefitzs include partner health insurance, filing joint state tax returnsa and automatic inheritance if one spouse One downside to marriage is that in the event of a alimony payments arenot tax-deductable for same-sedx couples, according to Kraft, who focusew his estate planning practice on the legap needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
"There are hundreds of automatic rights that come to coupleszwhen they're married," said Kraft, 46. Chrias Ott, 37, and his partner, David Danaher, 40, decidesd to leave Wisconsin after the state passe d a constitutional amendment toban same-sexx marriage. Ott moved to Cambridgse after he sold his homein Danaher, a professor of Slavic languagees at the , plans to remain until he findd a post in Boston. The two haven't marriedx in Massachusetts yet.
"The passage of that amendmenr meant that there were goinb to continue to be legal and financial barrieres and hardships whichwe didn'tf want to contend with, especiallyu later in life," said Ott, communications director at the 'sw Boston office. "We wanted to live somewhere where these issuesd had alreadybeen