Behind Marriott’s Long Legacy of Support for LGBT Travel
Photo Credit: TV celebrity Ross Mathews (center) officiated the wedding of George Carrancho (left) and Sean Franklin (right) during the Marriott-sponsored 2015 Capital Pride Parade in Washington D.C. this month. Marriott International
Skift Take
Marriott has been ramping up its marketing efforts targeting LGBT customers while also promoting its internal advocacy for the LGBT community.
On June 13, Marriott International hosted the first same-sex marriage ever officiated at the D.C. Capital Pride Parade, which capped off the 10-day Capital Pride festival celebrating LGBT culture and accomplishments.
Record breaking attendance topped 350,000 people for this year’s 40th anniversary event, with Marriott acting as official sponsor of the parade itself. Half a dozen other hospitality groups sponsored other components of Capital Pride at various levels.
The happily wedded groom and groom are George Carrancho and Sean Franklin, who got hitched by E!’s flamboyant Ross Mathews presiding over the nuptials. On the day of the wedding, same sex marriage wasn’t recognized as a legal partnership in Texas where the two men first met in 2007, but that of course changed last Friday following the landmark Supreme Court ruling protecting gay marriage rights in all 50 states.
As previously reported, Marriott launched its #LoveTravels marketing campaign in June last year wit
