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With Prop 8 Dead, LGBT Tourism May Be On The Rise In L.A
Welcome to Los Angeles! (Photo by oceanfishing via Shutterstock)
The Gay & Lesbian Travel Association is touting Los Angeles as a place to visit now that Prop. 8 is gone. Los Angeles wasn't so hot of a destination in the eyes of LGBT tourism folks after California passed Proposition 8, the law banning same-sex marriage, in 2008. However, with Prop 8's demise in 2013, things seem to be changing, LA Weekly reports.
A member of the L.A. Tourism & Convention Board told LA Weekly that with Prop 8 repealed, they'll be moving "full steam ahead" with marketing L.A. as a destination for the LGBT community.
Recently, L.A. was able to score the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association's convention—an event Los Angeles has never hosted before. It's not a huge convention drawing thousands, but it is a networking event for those that work in the LGBT tourism industry.
On the convention's website, it lists WeHo, Silver Lake and Los Feliz among gay-friendly neighborhoods and notes that "the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in 2013 paved the way to restore marriage equality in California." And, the site notes, "Los Angeles is the perfect city to host an unforgettable wedding." The convention kicks off tomorrow.
Of the 43 million tourists that Los Angeles receives each year, 3.2 million of them identify as LGBT. However, Michael McDowell, the VP of L.A.'s cultural tourism board, said that LGBT visitors are inclined to spend quadruple the cash.
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