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സ്വവര്‍ഗ വിവാഹം ന്യു യോര്‍ക്കിന്റെ നാണക്കേട്? ഇന്ത്യന്‍ വംശജരും വിവാഹം നടത്തി

Published on 25 July, 2011
സ്വവര്‍ഗ വിവാഹം ന്യു യോര്‍ക്കിന്റെ നാണക്കേട്? ഇന്ത്യന്‍ വംശജരും വിവാഹം നടത്തി

see photos on NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/07/24/nyregion/20110724-gaymarriage-portraits.html?ref=nyregion

First same-sex couple wed in New York

New York, July 25 (IANS) Two women in New York city Sunday turned the first same-sex couple, marrying under the new law of New York state that allows same-sex marriages, a media report said.

Phyllis Siegal, 77, and Connie Kopelov, 85, tied the knot before a city official and in the presence of many onlookers who cheered them on this occasion.

Siegal and Kopelov were among the hundreds of same-sex couples that luckily won the marriage lottery to wed Sunday, the day the state's Marriage Equality Act took effect.

Hundreds of same-sex couples heard the news Friday that they made the cut in the marriage lottery that New York state instituted for Sunday, CNN reported Sunday night.

"These are two independent people who are joining together because they can see and they can feel how much better their lives will be," city clerk Michael McSweeney said as he married Siegal and Kopelov.

"We are grateful that they are allowing us to share this truly momentous ceremony with them," he added.

Siegal and Kopelov of New York have been together for 23 years. Kopelov left the clerk's office in a wheelchair, but used a walker to approach reporters.

The New York city clerk's office has been flooded with over 2,600 requests for marriage licences since the wording on the online application was changed from "Groom and Bride" to "Spouse A and Spouse B."

At last, 764 couples, gay or straight, were chosen in random for receiving marriage licence at city clerk's offices Sunday.

With the Marriage Equality Act passing in June and taking effect Sunday, New York became the sixth state after Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire, that legally say "yes" to gay marriage, Xinhua reported.

 

Wedding fever hit New York on Sunday, as hundreds of gay and lesbian couples married on the first day that same-sex marriage became legal in the state.

The marriages across New York, the nation's sixth, and largest, state to allow gay marriages prompted calls from activists and officials to repeal a federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had pushed for same-sex marriage, officiated personally at the marriage of two men belonging to his City Hall inner circle on Sunday evening at Gracie Mansion, the mayor's official residence.

"Today in this city and in this state, history takes an important step forward by allowing every person to participate," Bloomberg said as he married John Feinblatt and Jonathan Mintz, accompanied by their daughters at the podium.

"Therefore by the powers vested in me by the state of New York, I pronounce you both married."

City officials said a record-breaking 659 couples, all five boroughs combined, braved a summer heat wave and long lines to obtain their marriage licenses.

"I think that is going to cause huge ripples and waves that will move marriage equality much more quickly for the rest of the country," New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn told reporters.

Quinn, who said she had begun planning her own wedding with longtime partner Kim Catullo, called the marriages a triumph for human rights.

"Marriage equality is alive and well in every borough in New York City."

The day of marriages began in western New York, where two grandmothers became the state's first legally wed same-sex couple, one month after Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the law into effect.

Kitty Lambert, 54, and Cheryle Rudd, 53, from Buffalo, New York, were married just after midnight at Niagara Falls' State Park's Luna Island, with the traditional honeymoon capital Niagara Falls as a backdrop.

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 and their families and friends formed a line around the block to be married at Manhattan's marriage bureau.

The first to be wed were Phyllis Siegel, 77, and Connie Kopelov, 85. The couple, who have been together for 23 years, emerged triumphant from the city clerk's office, and Kopelov, in a wheelchair, brandished their marriage certificate as a crowd of supporters cheered.

"I am breathless," Siegel said. "I am happy."

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.

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.

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.

"New York is sending a powerful message to the rest of the nation today as we once again lead the way for equal rights," said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat.

Groups of clergy and other opponents of the change staged a protest in front of Governor Cuomo's Midtown Manhattan office, warning that lawmakers who supported same-sex marriage would face punishment in upcoming elections.

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

 

www.rediff.com

Navin Dargani and Navin Manglani have been together as a couple for six years and last month the two held a commitment ceremony in California with family and friends.

But on Sunday, July 24, the two young men, both residents of New York City, lined up before 9 am at the marriage bureau on 100 Worth Street in Manhattan to get their relationship officially approved by the New York State. 

They were able to get a license, a judicial waiver for the 24 hour waiting period and get married the same day.

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-indian-gay-couple-among-hundreds-wed-in-new-york/20110725.htm

സ്വവര്‍ഗ വിവാഹം ന്യു യോര്‍ക്കിന്റെ നാണക്കേട്? ഇന്ത്യന്‍ വംശജരും വിവാഹം നടത്തി
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