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Viva Las Vegas

Published Thursday, 16-Oct-2003 in issue 825

OUT WITH IT!

by Greg D. Kubiak

With “National Marriage Protection Week” upon us, I have just two words to say to the militant heterosexual activists pressing their pro-marriage, anti-gay message to America: “Las Vegas.”

I just returned from a late summer vacation with a 24-hour layover in Nevada’s largest city. Las Vegas (city slogan: “What you do stays here!”) came to life in 1946 when mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel opened the Flamingo Hotel as a place for adult pursuits, like gambling and prostitution. The town has grown more civilized since then. Now it has gaming and “tantalizing human pleasures.” They also have lots of wedding chapels.

Like the aforementioned militant heterosexual activists promoting their anti-gay agenda, I too am concerned about the institution of marriage. As a gay man denied the basic right to wed, I wanted to see the marriage mecca myself.

More than 100,000 couples get married in Las Vegas every year. That’s because, as the tourist propaganda points out, “getting married here is a snap.” There are only two requirements: (1) proof of your age, (and parental consent if under 18) and (2) $55. Cash, check, major credit cards and casino chips accepted.

There is no blood test requirement, and no waiting period. However, Nevada, a Defense of Marriage Act state, does require that any divorces must be final, and you must have a wedding witness (though one can be provided from the chapel staff for an additional fee).

Knowing of the angst that gay marriage has for so many religious and “pro-family” groups nationwide, those groups must be heartened to see that Las Vegas is working night and day to counteract the efforts for same-sex unions.

… Las Vegas is working night and day to counteract the efforts for same-sex unions.

Though I could not visit them all, there are currently 27 freestanding wedding chapels in Las Vegas proper. And there are 25 wedding chapels located in the comfort and convenience of hotel casinos.

If, however, you’re not interested in Las Vegas as a place to tie the knot, it’s apparently great for single people too. During my one night in Sin City, my boyfriend and I took an evening stroll up Las Vegas Boulevard, a.k.a. The Strip. (Judging by the shows being advertised along the way, “strip” in this usage is meant more as a verb than a noun.) Within a three-block walk, I was bombarded by canvassers handing out risqué advertising cards and magazines offering “exotic women” who were “friendly, fun and frisky” and could come directly to my “room in 15 minutes or less” for as low as $44 (or two for $79).

As the militant pro-marriage lobby knows, Las Vegas made a valiant attempt in the ’90’s to gear more of its appeal to families. Lavish hotels were built that featured rides, like the Stratosphere Hotel’s roller coaster, and outdoor performances, like the “Battle of Buccaneer Bay” at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino. But now the performing pirate/acrobats will be replaced by “at least 20 scantily clad women” in a production called “The Sirens of Treasure Island,” according to a report by The Washington Post.

I do not fault straight people having an adult playground at which to get away. In fact, it’s probably a great way for married men to test the strength of their marriage vows, which “pledge their love and fidelity.”

But for the life of me, I just don’t get how the Coalition to Protect Marriage has been silent on Las Vegas. With over 200,000 people getting married there annually, you’d think they’d be on the Chamber of Commerce. I know they think that “gay marriage is the end of society as we know it,” according to Sandi Rios, president of Concerned Women For America. So why not promote straight marriage the Las Vegas way?

As we know, Oct. 12-18 has been officially declared Marriage Protection Week by President Bush. He did so at the request of the Coalition to Protect Marriage, a narrow-based coalition of 20 or so groups like the Christian Coalition, National Religious Broadcasters, the Family Research Council, the Southern Baptist Convention and Rush Limbaugh.

But after the week’s festivities are over, I think the coalition should celebrate their accomplishment in the Marriage Capitol of the World. My only advice when they leave Las Vegas, “Don’t look back. You may turn into a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26).

Greg D. Kubiak, author, activist and gaming analyst, can be reached via this newspaper or by e-mail at Gkubiak@aol.com.