While Christine Gregoire gets set to sign the “everything but marriage” domestic partnership bill (I wonder if it’ll get the kind of grand signing that the Viaduct bill did; after all, civil unions have been a much longer time coming than a new waterfront thoroughfare), the city of Seattle is trying to draw more gay tourists. Here’s an idea: gay marriage. All these business interests are participating in the campaign, hoping for an influx of dollars. Perhaps they should start lobbying for full-on marriage rights. (Note to local businesses: Those boycott threats from Ken Hutcherson have about as much teeth as a newborn.) The Congressional Budget Office estimates that if half the nation’s gay couples currently living together wed, it’d mean a $2 billion boon to the wedding industry. We won’t get all of that, but we’d get some, plus all the money their guests would spend while in town.Of course, the libertarian argument that government should get out of marriage altogether makes sense, too; as prospective Dave Reichert-challenger Suzan DelBene says, “My job as a representative is to support their legal rights. I think marriage implies a religious view, and churches need to make that decision themselves.” (I wonder what DelBene’s thoughts are on straight marriage.) Either way, separate but (not quite) equal is insulting policy, and we’re passing up on big bucks by maintaining it.