News

Gay Marriage Key to Flourishing R.I. Economy

 

Author: Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee
Publication: Providence Journal
Publication Date: March 3, 2013
Everyone, regardless of his or her sexual orientation, should have the freedom to marry the person he or she loves. This is a matter of civil rights and basic fairness. But it is also an economic-development issue.
As governor of Rhode Island, this scenario describes why I believe it must be a priority to bring marriage equality to the Ocean State:
Imagine a promising and growing biotechnology firm, founded by graduates of one of Rhode Island’s many outstanding colleges and universities. The company is looking for the best place to establish a new headquarters, bringing with it good, high-paying 21st Century jobs.
Like many of today’s best companies, it is looking for a location with good schools, affordable-housing options, sound infrastructure, access to convenient transportation, and an environment that attracts top talent from all over the nation and the world. Rhode Island meets all of these criteria but one.
The company’s leaders know that they won’t be able to provide the same benefits or quality of life to all of their future employees because of laws that make it more difficult and expensive to hire gay and lesbian employees. And they may have a hard time recruiting the best and the brightest, because why would intelligent, talented, highly-sought-after potential employees want to live and work in a state where they’re treated as second-class citizens?
Without marriage equality in Rhode Island, this very desirable employer will consider the difficulties and costs of hiring in Rhode Island against conditions in other Northeastern states. And the company may simply feel it’s wrong to deny its gay and lesbian employees a fundamental freedom: the right to marry the person they love in the state they call home.
This is why I consider marriage equality not just a civil-rights priority, but an economic necessity. For everyone in my administration, one of our top priorities is to wake up every day and work to create a climate that will promote economic development, attract the businesses of the future, and produce jobs for our state.  

Author: Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee

Publication: Providence Journal

Publication Date: March 3, 2013

Everyone, regardless of his or her sexual orientation, should have the freedom to marry the person he or she loves. This is a matter of civil rights and basic fairness. But it is also an economic-development issue.

As governor of Rhode Island, this scenario describes why I believe it must be a priority to bring marriage equality to the Ocean State:

Imagine a promising and growing biotechnology firm, founded by graduates of one of Rhode Island’s many outstanding colleges and universities. The company is looking for the best place to establish a new headquarters, bringing with it good, high-paying 21st Century jobs.

Like many of today’s best companies, it is looking for a location with good schools, affordable-housing options, sound infrastructure, access to convenient transportation, and an environment that attracts top talent from all over the nation and the world. Rhode Island meets all of these criteria but one.

The company’s leaders know that they won’t be able to provide the same benefits or quality of life to all of their future employees because of laws that make it more difficult and expensive to hire gay and lesbian employees. And they may have a hard time recruiting the best and the brightest, because why would intelligent, talented, highly-sought-after potential employees want to live and work in a state where they’re treated as second-class citizens?

Without marriage equality in Rhode Island, this very desirable employer will consider the difficulties and costs of hiring in Rhode Island against conditions in other Northeastern states. And the company may simply feel it’s wrong to deny its gay and lesbian employees a fundamental freedom: the right to marry the person they love in the state they call home.

This is why I consider marriage equality not just a civil-rights priority, but an economic necessity. For everyone in my administration, one of our top priorities is to wake up every day and work to create a climate that will promote economic development, attract the businesses of the future, and produce jobs for our state.