(AP) Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak on Thursday heads for a predominantly gay neighborhood in Chicago hoping to persuade same-sex couples to come north to his state to get married — and spend lots of money on weddings while there.
Rybak is launching "Marry Me in Minneapolis," a campaign that aims to take advantage of frustrations among gays that Illinois has not approved a same-sex marriage law. After Chicago, Rybak plans visits to Colorado and Wisconsin, two more states that haven't OK'd same-sex marriage.
Rybak's message is that Chicagoans no longer have to make a long and expensive trip to the coasts to get married, just the six-hour drive to his city. Many Midwestern gay couples have exchanged vows in Iowa — the only state bordering Illinois that allows same-sex weddings — but Rybak hopes to bring some of that business home with him.