Denver business owners in the wedding industry expect a new market to open up with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday legalizing same-sex marriage.
Mark Christopher Paquette, a Denver wedding planner and founder of Colorado Gay Weddings, a website dedicated to same-sex marriage resources and vendors, said he has seen a spike in traffic since last year, when Colorado legalized same-sex marriage.
He said he expects business to remain steady in Colorado while wedding services experience an increase nationally because of the Supreme Court ruling.
“Personally, I’m ecstatic,” he said. “It takes away the different formalities that LGBTQ couples have to go through. It’s now going to put everybody on the same ground.”
According to a study earlier this year by the Williams Institute at UCLA, same-sex weddings in Colorado could generate more than $50 million in spending statewide by 2017
Desiree Kelly, owner of Centennial-based Makery Cake Co., said she hopes to see some of that boost.
“It’s usually no different,” she said. “As long as your marketing and your heart are in the right place, couples will gravitate toward you.”
Jack Phillips, owner of Lakewood-based Masterpiece Cakeshop who was sued by a same-sex couple in 2012 after he refused to make them a cake because of his religious beliefs, declined to comment Friday.
His attorney, Jeremy Tedesco, compared Phillips’ case to that of three Denver bakeries accused, and subsequently cleared, of discrimination when they refused to prepare cakes with messages they found offensive to gays.
“He has the same right to be free of compelled speech as the other Colorado bakeries,” Tedesco said. “The final word of this case is a long ways off.”
Last year, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission said that Phillips can’t refuse to prepare cakes for same-sex celebrations, in compliance with Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act.
Phillips and his attorneys filed an appeal with the Colorado Court of Appeals. Arguments in the case are scheduled for July 7.
Amy Edelen: 303-954-1440, aedelen@denverpost.com or twitter.com/amyedelen
