I’m baaack everyone!  Now that the boring local election season is over,  I’ll be back posting on my favorite site that I love to disagree with!  Many of you may recall some of my outspoken, controversial posts on LGBT related issues from this summer.

We’ve all grown tired of those dull posts on New York State running out of money, but I saw something over the holiday weekend that really caught my eye.  I was reading the on-line edition of the the New York Times while sipping a latte and eating a croissant and saw an article that was very uplifting.

The enlighten Senate Democratic majority in Albany has recognized something my friends and I have talked about for years:  gay marriage could be a windfall for New York State:

But negotiations have been fundamentally stalled — and even irrational at times. Senate Democrats, who have thus far refused to hold a vote to legalize same-sex marriage, have nonetheless floated the theory in negotiations that the state could expect to take in more than $50 million a year in new revenue from the legalization of same-sex marriage, from a combination of marriage license and tourism revenue.

Think about it.  Imagine the guys who would come to Rochester for bachelor parties at the Bachelor Forum.  Events like rape and pillage, leather vest night, and underwear night (Thanksgiving traditions at my favorite bar), would draw men from across upstate New York if they could be tied to bachelor parties.  Think of the hotel rooms, meals eaten at local establishments and sales tax collected at local drug stores!

Those stodgy old Republicans never would have embraced this as an economic development tool.  It’s time for Albany to get off of their collective duffs and pass gay marriage.  If the civil rights angle doesn’t cut it for you, do it for economic development!