Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 9:06 pm Post subject: NY legalizes 'gay marriage'
As it was in the Days of Lot.
New York Becomes the Sixth State to Legalize Gay Marriage
June 25, 2011 ALBANY, N.Y.
New York lawmakers narrowly voted to legalize same-sex marriage Friday, handing activists a breakthrough victory in the state where the gay rights movement was born.
New York will become the sixth state where gay couples can wed and the biggest by far.
Gay rights advocates are hoping the vote will galvanize the movement around the country and help it regain momentum after an almost identical bill was defeated here in 2009 and similar measures failed in 2010 in New Jersey and this year in Maryland and Rhode Island.
Though New York is a relative latecomer in allowing gay marriage, it is considered an important prize for advocates, given the state's size and New York City's international stature and its role as the birthplace of the gay rights movement, which is considered to have started with the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village in 1969.
The New York bill cleared the Republican-controlled state Senate on a 33-29 vote. The Democrat-led Assembly, which passed a different version last week, is expected to pass the new version with stronger religious exemptions and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who campaigned on the issue last year, has promised to sign it. Same-sex couples can begin marrying begin 30 days after that. The passage of New York's legislation was made possible in two Republican senators who had been undecided.
Sen. Stephen Saland voted against a similar bill in 2009, helping kill the measure and dealing a blow to the national gay rights movement.
"While I understand that my vote will disappoint many, I also know my vote is a vote of conscience," Saland said before the vote.
"I am doing the right thing in voting to support marriage equality."
Gay couples in gallery wept during Saland's speech.
Sen. Mark Grisanti, a GOP freshman from Buffalo, also said he would vote for the bill. Grisanti said he could not deny anyone what he called basic rights.
The effects of the law could be felt well beyond New York: Unlike Massachusetts, which pioneered gay marriage in 2004, New York has no residency requirement for obtaining a marriage license, meaning the state could become a magnet for gay couples across the country who want to have a wedding in Central Park, the Hamptons, the romantic Hudson Valley or that honeymoon hot spot of yore, Niagara Falls.
New York, the nation's third most populous state, will join Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C., in allowing same-sex couples to wed.
For five months in 2008, gay marriage was legal in California, the biggest state in population, and 18,000 same-sex couples rushed to tie the knot there before voters overturned the state Supreme Court ruling that allowed the practice. The constitutionality of California's ban is now before a federal appeals court.
While court challenges in New York are all but certain, the state — unlike California — makes it difficult for the voters to repeal laws at the ballot box. Changing the law would require a constitutional convention, a long, drawn-out process.
The sticking point over the past few days: Republican demands for stronger legal protections for religious groups that fear they will be hit with discrimination lawsuits if they refuse to allow their facilities to be used for gay weddings.
The climactic vote came after more than a week of stop-and-start negotiations, rumors, closed-door meetings and frustration on the part of advocates. Online discussions took on a nasty turn with insults and vulgarities peppering the screens of opponents and supporters alike and security was beefed up in the capitol to give senators easier passage to and from their conference room.
The night before, Barack Obama encouraged lawmakers to support gay rights during a fundraiser with New York City's gay community. The vote also is sure to charge up annual gay pride events this weekend, culminating with parades Sunday in New York City, San Francisco and other cities.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110625/ap_on_re_us/us_gay_marriage_ny
Man accepts this SIN - GOD DOES NOT. The nation that sanctions SIN is damned.
New Zealand sanctions this sin. The many earthquakes seek to throw out its inhabitants.
You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female, it is an abomination.
Do not defile yourselves by any of these things for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.
For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.
Leviticus 18:22-25
The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals
1 Corinthians 6:9
Luk 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luk 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Man accepts this SIN - GOD DOES NOT. The nation that sanctions SIN is damned.
New Zealand sanctions this sin. The many earthquakes seek to throw out its inhabitants.
You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female, it is an abomination.
Do not defile yourselves by any of these things for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.
For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.
Leviticus 18:22-25
The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals
1 Corinthians 6:9
Clinton Hails NY Legalization of Gay Marriage
6/27/11
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is celebrating New York's legalization of same-sex marriage as a historic human rights victory that will give much-needed credibility and visibility to the international movement for equality for gays and lesbians.
Speaking Monday to a gay pride event at the State Department, Clinton said that last week's move in the state she represented in the Senate was a momentous and extraordinary event. But she said much more needs to be done to end discrimination against homosexuals around the globe, a cause she has rallied American diplomats to embrace.
Clinton said the campaign for gay rights is "one of the most urgent and important human rights struggles of all times" and called for activists to redouble their efforts in the fight.
In light of The New York Times blasting the religious exemptions in the new homosexual "marriage" law, one conservative attorney is pointing to the First Amendment.
The law provides exemptions for pastors, religious institutions and non-profit corporations affiliated with religious organizations, but The New York Times suggests those are unnecessary. So Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel Action advises the Times to take a closer look at the Constitution.
Mainly, he notes "our First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of religious expression. This is troubling, but not surprising that The New York Times is once again publicly...editorializing about the need to trample on individuals' religious liberties," he laments.
Matt BarberBarber goes on to argue that the religious exemptions are worthless, as the only intent for their inclusion was to convince fence-sitting senators to vote for the legalization.
"The true motivation here is not for marriage equality; the true motivation is to, under penalty of law, ensure that all Americans are compelled to embrace the demonstrably destructive and immoral homosexual lifestyle," the attorney points out.
In order to accomplish that, any opposition must be silenced. In truth, Barber does not think the religious exemption goes far enough because it does not protect individual people of faith, especially those in business who oppose homosexuality.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gay and lesbian couples across New York are gearing up to become bride and bride or groom and groom starting at a minute after midnight on Sunday, when a law making New York the sixth U.S. state to allow such marriages comes into effect.
The expected rush of weddings across New York state has sent marriage bureaus scrambling for staff to officiate and judges to approve the marriages.
New York City plans to open its marriage bureaus in all five boroughs on Sunday. Expecting lines around the block, city officials initially set a lottery capping the number of marriages to 764 couples, but later decided to accept all 823 applicants, gay and straight alike.
In preparation for the crush of media and spectators, police on Friday installed barricades near the Manhattan marriage bureau, which is set to wed 459 couples on Sunday.
Asked if the lines would discourage people, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said not to worry, despite the sweltering heat wave engulfing the city and much of the region.
"It's going to be hot and it's going to be a lot of fun, and you joke about the lines," Bloomberg said on a radio show.
Bloomberg, who had pushed for the same-sex marriage law, is set to marry two men who belong to his City Hall inner circle at a ceremony at Gracie Mansion, the mayor's official residence, on Sunday evening.
"It'll be a nice ceremony ... there will be some drinks," Bloomberg said.
Kitty Lambert and Cheryl Rudd, from Buffalo, New York, are set to be married as soon as the clock strikes 12:01 on Sunday morning at the base of Niagara Falls, used by generations of Americans as a honeymoon destination.
They said their marriage represents a major step for gay rights in the United States.
"This is an amazing moment," Lambert said. "We're achieving that real American Dream to be treated like everybody else and be protected under all those laws."
She and Rudd, who share five grown children from previous marriages before coming out as gay, will mark the occasion by lighting the world-renowned water cascade with rainbow-colored lights, the colors of which are a symbol of gay pride.
On Monday, 42 other gay couples plan to say "I do" together during a joint ceremony at Niagara Falls.
Civil liberties activists in New York say the state's legalization of same-sex marriage sends a message to the U.S. Congress that it must repeal a federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
The Defense of Marriage Act was signed into law in 1996 by then-Democratic President Bill Clinton. U.S. President Barack Obama has said he would support a bill meant to repeal the law.
The law prohibits same-sex couples from receiving marriage-based federal benefits such as Social Security survivor benefits, health benefits and the right to file taxes jointly.
(Additional reporting by Neale Gulley in Buffalo,; editing by Mark Egan and Mohammad Zargham)
New York state celebrates first same-sex marriages
..NEW YORK/NIAGARA FALLS, New York (Reuters) - Wedding fever hit New York on Sunday, as hundreds of gay and lesbian couples lined up to be married on the first day that same-sex marriage was legal in the state.
In western New York, two women, both grandmothers, became the first legally wed same-sex couple just after midnight, with the traditional honeymoon capital Niagara Falls as the backdrop for the event.
Kitty Lambert, 54, and Cheryle Rudd, 53, from Buffalo, New York, were married at Niagara Falls' State Park's Luna Island, near the U.S.-Canadian border.
The women, with five grown children between them from previous marriages, were joined by several hundred friends, family, supporters and even a group of tourists for the first same-sex marriage since New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the gay marriage law on June 24.
Lambert, an art gallery manager, choked up during the religious service, answering "Yes, yes, yes!" when asked if she was making the choice of her own free will.
"We're achieving that real American dream to be treated like everybody else and be protected under all those laws," Lambert said later.
The women danced on stage after being married to pop star Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory."
In New York City, couples, their families and friends, formed a line around the block to be married at the Manhattan marriage bureau.
As freshly married couples emerged from the building, crowds of supporters congratulated them and asked that they brandish their marriage certificates.
Officials, expecting a rush of gay couples wanting to get married, initially set a lottery capping the number of marriages on Sunday to 764 couples but later accepted all 823 couples across all five city boroughs.
Douglas Robinson, 60, and Michael Elsasser, 56, said they were particularly happy because their two adopted sons, Zachary and Justin, were there to support them as they got married.
"The state recognizes us as a real family now," Robinson, who works at a bank, said, adding "even though we've always known we were a family.
"The next step is to get full equal rights with the federal government," Robinson said.
DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE
Speaking on ABC television's "This Week with Christiane Amanpour" program, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he saw the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York as boosting momentum for its passage in other states.
New York is the sixth and largest U.S. state to allow gay marriage. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia also do so.
"It's going to grow very rapidly, partially because New York is such a bellwether and so visible and so when we do something a lot of people, they don't necessarily copy it, but they look to see whether it would be appropriate for them as well," he said.
Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois and New Jersey have approved gay civil unions, and gay marriage is specifically banned in 39 states.
Civil liberties activists say New York's legalization of same-sex marriage sends a message to the U.S. Congress that it must repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
The Defense of Marriage Act was signed into law in 1996 by Democratic President Bill Clinton. U.S. President Barack Obama has said he would support a bill meant to repeal the law.
The law prohibits same-sex couples from receiving marriage-based federal benefits such as Social Security survivor benefits, health benefits and the right to file taxes jointly.
Officials estimate legalizing gay marriage would add some $400 million to New York's strained economy over the next three years.
Bloomberg, who had pushed for same-sex marriage, is set to officiate at the marriage of two men who belong to his City Hall inner circle at Gracie Mansion, the mayor's official residence, later on Sunday.
(Reporting by Basil Katz in New York and Neale Gulley in Niagara Falls; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Paul Simao)
New York City's most senior openly gay official weds
5/19/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Christine Quinn, New York's highest-ranking openly gay official and the leading candidate to be the city's next mayor, married her longtime girlfriend on Saturday, walking down the aisle to Beyonce's "Ave Maria."
The wedding came less than a year after New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, whose first same-sex nuptials were held July 24.
Quinn, the speaker of the New York City Council and a vocal advocate of same-sex marriage, wore a full-length, cream-colored gown designed by Carolina Herrera and a hair comb fashioned with family heirlooms.
Quinn's wife, New York lawyer Kim Catullo, wore a cream silk evening suit designed by Ralph Lauren. Catullo, who like Quinn is 45, walked in to Bruce Springsteen's "If I Should Fall Behind."
Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional: New York judge
6/6/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman was found unconstitutional by a federal judge in New York on Wednesday because it improperly interferes with states' rights to regulate marriage.
The ruling by Manhattan federal court judge Barbara Jones followed a decision last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in Boston that concluded the Defense of Marriage Act discriminates against gay couples.
Judge Jones became the fifth judge to find the 1996 law unconstitutional, adding weight to the demands of law makers and activists who want the law repealed.
On May 9, Barack Obama became the first president to publicly express support for gay marriage, saying he believes same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
On Wednesday, Judge Jones said that under the pretext of creating a uniform law for all, the law intrudes "upon the states' business of regulating domestic relations."
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