Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL O'LEARY W hy wasn't Las Vegas gayer sooner? With the city's current gay-friendly vibe—this was Out Traveler's number-one vacation spot last year; our official tourism website has an LGBT section that overuses the word "fabulous"—buoyed by a better-late-than-never momentum toward accepting gay mar- riage, one might forget that Vegas wasn't always near the top of the LGBT itinerary. Palm Springs: Now there's a classic gay destination. Key West, Miami Beach, Provincetown—for years they loomed larger in the LGBT imagination than Sin City. Puzzling, perhaps, considering Las Vegas's joyous camp sensibility, over-the-top everything, and readiness to present Celine and Elton in big showrooms. But understandable, too. Given its long history of legal and social suppression, the LGBT community is canny about how it dispenses its favors. When it comes to Vegas, there are some issues that can't be fixed by a Cher mini- residency in the Colosseum: In 2002, a decisive 67 percent of Nevada's voters agreed to ban same-sex marriage— and the process required two votes of the people, two years apart, so we can't blame it on the sort of temporary Nevada craziness that produces, say, a Sharron Angle candidacy. No, this was a genuine statewide talk-to-the-hand aimed at the gay community. Never mind that a straight guy can take a limo to Pahrump and bury himself under a stack of legal hookers. Same-sex love isn't officially recognized here. And somehow a "commitment ceremony," even if presided over by Elvis with all the f lagrant tackiness of a traditional Vegas wedding, just isn't the same. It was an uncharacteristically puritanical move by a state that embraced gambling and quickie divorce when they were socially marginalized. (This new starchiness is also ref lected in the state's slow roll on marijuana reform.) Still, if there's one thing Vegas excels at, it's this: identifying who has money and angling to get it. According to a recent study by the Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA, same-sex couples tend to have higher household incomes, more education, and a greater willingness to travel and spend. So a few years ago, with the national mood shifting and more states approving gay marriage, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority pondered a strategy to market the city to same-sex newlyweds. A couple of presumably gay- alluring ads were ginned up, described thusly by Vegas Inc. in 2011: "two women with shapely legs playing footsie, a pair of fit young men holding hands on a golf course as Wynn Las Vegas looms in the background." Hey, gay folks newly married in more open-minded states, come honeymoon in Vegas! Clunky and obvious, the campaign never got off the ground—probably a good thing. Last year LVCVA produced somewhat subtler ads touting a gay-friendly Vegas with the line "Everyone's welcome… even straight people." So the city is becoming a gay destination, bulwarked by a resort industry that in many cases embraces gays not only as paying customers but as employees as well—something that many LGBT visitors check up on when they travel. There's a gay hotel, the Blue Moon. Beyond the tourism corridor, Out Traveler noted ways in which Vegas is a town that LGBT tourists can embrace, such as the city's gay pride event, sponsored by our biggest employers, and industry support for the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada. On the heels of Krave Massive, club impresario Victor Drai will soon open an LGBT-oriented joint at Bally's called Liaison, and this summer even the most dedicated hedonist will find enough gay-oriented pool parties to fill a weekend. All this forward-leaning social change just might lead to political change, too. With a majority of us now favor- ing marriage equality, and the State Legislature working to reverse the constitutional ban, voters could make gay marriage a reality here in 2016. In which case, we're gonna need more Elvis suits. V Altar-not Universe LAS VEGAS IS BECOMING THE MOST FABULOUS GAY HONEYMOON DESTINATION IN SPITE OF ITSELFAND NEVADA'S CURRENT MARRIAGE LAWS. BY SCOTT DICKENSHEETS Parting Shot 152 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 152_V_BOB_Closer_MAYJUNE_14.indd 152 4/22/14 1:34 PM