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Source: Chicago TribuneSept.自存倉 05--When out-of-state politicians show up in Chicago on poaching missions, they generally unleash fighting words. They want to steal Illinois jobs.The mayor of Minneapolis, who is expected here Thursday, has fighting words too, but he's coating them in a message of love. With same-sex marriage legal in Minnesota since Aug. 1, he's out to win wedding business from Chicago's gay community.In doing so, he's effectively linking arms with Illinois politicians who favor legalizing same-sex marriage -- and who hope the Minneapolis salvo will spur action in Springfield in the next session."I'm a strong supporter of marriage equality and I hope someday Illinois will take away the advantage Minnesota has," R.T. Rybak said. "In the meantime, we're open for business."He is expected to unveil a small-scale advertising campaign inviting same-sex couples to marry in his city during a news conference Thursday morning in Chicago's Boystown area in the Lakeview neighborhood."Hey Chicago! I want to marry you in Minneapolis" is the tagline in the print ads running this week in Windy City Times, a publication serving Chicago's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and RedEye, a free tabloid owned by Tribune Co., publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The ad features a smiling caterer next to a three-tiered wedding cake.Chicago is the first stop on a campaign that is expected to move on to Milwaukee, Madison, Denver and possibly Detroit."These are all logical parts of the center of the country where some people don't have the same rights as in Minnesota," said Rybak, who hopes to attract not only wedding business and tourism, but full-time residents."We recognize this is a long-term business advantage for luring talent and entrepreneurs," he said.His appearance comes three months after an effort to legalize same-sex marriage died in the Illinois legislature. The measure had passed the state Senate, but supporters did not call it to a vote on the House floor because they weren't able to gather sufficient votes.As a courtesy, Rybak alerted Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office of his planned visit, and the visit was welcomed, according to John Stiles, a spokesman for Rybak. The tone of the visit is one of friendly competition, not something more cutthroat, he said.Emanuel, Gov. Pat Quinn, Choose Chicago Chairman Desiree Rogers and Illinois Tourism Director Jen Hoelze are using the occasion to call for the General Assembly to approve same-sex marriage in order to protect tourism here."Thirteen states have extended marriage to all loving, committed couples -- but Illinois has not," Emanuel said in a statement. "That is bad for Chicago, bad for Illinois, and bad for our local economy and the jobs it creates." He has made boosting tourism a cornerstone of his economic development agenda.Whether gays flock to Minneapolis for marriage remains to be 迷你倉新蒲崗een. Several community members said Wednesday that they were not moved by the overture and would rather fight for marriage rights in Illinois."We're pretty tied to Chicago," said Kieren Ladner, 60, a Lakeview resident who has discussed marriage possibilities with his partner of 31 years.If they were to travel to get married, they would head to California, where they have friends, said Ladner, who is a volunteer at the Center on Halsted, a community center for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the site of Rybak's news conference.Still, such out-of-state treks are becoming more common. Since same-sex marriage became legal in Iowa in 2009, 544 couples from Illinois tied the knot there, which represents 9 percent of the 5,926 same-sex marriages in that period, according to the Windy City Times, citing Iowa Department of Public Health data.And a number of hoteliers, including Raymond Vermolen, general manager of the InterContinental Chicago, are concerned about Illinois' potential for losing further lucrative business to Minnesota.From his previous experience at an InterContinental in Los Angeles, he observed that same-sex marriages "usually are well-designed, upper upscale events," he said, often with higher budgets than opposite-sex weddings.Hotel organizations clearly are eager to gain the business. A page on the Hilton Hotels & Resorts website aimed at gay and lesbian travelers trumpets "Marriage Equality in Minneapolis" and directs visitors to the company's offerings there.In Minnesota, acceptance of same-sex marriage has grown to the point where opinion over the issue is evenly split, according to a Star Tribune Minnesota Poll in June. But the newspaper's reporting also found Twin Cities wedding planners who were wrestling with how to welcome gay couples without alienating other clients.While they sort this out, however, Minneapolis is pushing forward with its ad campaign, which will be conducted in partnership with Meet Minneapolis, its convention and visitors association.There is a big potential upside. The Williams Institute, a UCLA-based think tank that does research on sexual orientation and gender identity, estimated this year that legalization of same-sex marriage in Illinois could spur as much as $103 million in wedding and tourism spending over three years.The state's hospitality establishment would like to keep that money here."The failure to pass a marriage equality bill is taking a real toll on our local tourism, lodging and wedding-related industries," Rogers, of tourism agency Choose Chicago, said in a statement. "The only way Chicago will stay competitive is to take a stand for equality."Freelance reporter Cheryl V. Jackson contributed.kbergen@tribune.comTwitter @kathy_bergenCopyright: ___ (c)2013 the Chicago Tribune Visit the Chicago Tribune at .chicagotribune.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉出租