[Sosfbay-discuss] BREAKING NEWS: New Paltz, New York (AP)
AlexCathy@aol.com
AlexCathy@aol.com
Fri, 27 Feb 2004 14:27:53 EST
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Dear Friends,
Hush my mouth!
An Associated Press NEWS FLASH from my old "stumping grounds" in the Hudson
Valley of New York just scrolled over my computer desktop.
Cathy Deppe and I were political activists around there for ten years and,
believe me, as recently as about five years ago, nobody dared touch this issue
with a ten-foot pole.
Something has happened.
Please note that JASON WEST is the duly elected (ahem) GREEN PARTY MAYOR New
Paltz, New York.
==================================================
Posted on America Online and Salon.com, Friday, February 27, 2004
Gay marriages in New York town
by Michael Hill
Feb. 27, 2004 | NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) -- Up to a dozen gay couples began
exchanging wedding vows on the steps of village hall Friday in a spirited ceremony
that opened another front on the growing national debate over gay marriage.
Officiating was Jason West, the 26-year-old Green Party mayor in this village
75 miles north of New York City, who joined Gavin Newsom of San Francisco as
the country's only mayors to marry same-sex couples.
"What we're witnessing in America today is the flowering of the largest civil
rights movement the country's had in a generation," West said.
Billiam van Roestenberg, 38, and Jeffrey McGowan, 39, were the first to wed
to the cheers of the crowd. Wearing suits, they held hands and carried flowers.
"I feel happy and joyful and peaceful," van Roestenberg said. "A little bit
of peace has finally come in. I feel proud to be an American."
"Now I'm normal and equal like every one else," he said.
More than 100 people, mostly supporters of gay marriage, turned out on the
green across from village hall, outnumbering family and friends of the couples
there to marry. A few scattered protesters carried signs opposing gay marriage.
Jay Blotcher of High Falls, N.Y., said that while West could only give him a
certificate and not a marriage license, it was still important to go through
the ceremony. "We have to show people who we are," he said.
"We've been badmouthed by religious zealots. We've been deprived by President
Bush and we have to show people that we're your friends, neighbors and
family."
One protester stood outside the hall with a sign that read, in part, "It's
Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve."
"It's against nature," Angelo Da'Quaro said. "It's against religion, it's
against all of that."
The ceremonies came a day after the state Health Department said New York's
domestic relations law does not allow marriage licenses for same-sex couples.
It said a clerk issuing such a license or anyone solemnizing such a marriage
would be violating state law.
West and some legal experts said they read the law differently.
"For a marriage to be legal in this state all that's required is for it to be
properly solemnized by someone with authority to do so," West told the CNN
cable network early Friday. "I'm fully able to do that."
Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School, said nothing in New York
law explicitly prohibits same-sex weddings, but that the framers "clearly
were contemplating opposite-sex marriages."
Discussion of gay marriage heated up this month after the top Massachusetts
court ruled that anything less than full-fledged marriage for gays there would
be unconstitutional. Since then, San Francisco officials have performed more
than 3,400 same-sex marriages and have challenged their state law barring such
unions. Earlier this week, President Bush endorsed a movement to amend the
Constitution to ban the practice.
A bill in the New York Legislature would ban same-sex marriages. Similar
bills have died without action in the past. At least 34 states have enacted
so-called defense of marriage laws.
==================================================
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<HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=3D2 PTSIZE=3D10 FAMILY=
=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"Arial" LANG=3D"0">Dear Friends, <BR>
<BR>
Hush my mouth! <BR>
<BR>
An Associated Press NEWS FLASH from my old "stumping grounds" in the Hudson=20=
Valley of New York just scrolled over my computer desktop. <BR>
<BR>
Cathy Deppe and I were political activists around there for ten years and, b=
elieve me, as recently as about five years ago, nobody dared touch this issu=
e with a ten-foot pole. <BR>
<BR>
Something has happened. <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Please note that JASON WEST is the duly elected (ahem) GREEN PARTY MAYOR New=
Paltz, New York. <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D<=
BR>
<I>Posted on America Online and Salon.com, Friday, February 27, 2004<BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" BACK=3D"#ffffff" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR:=20=
#ffffff" SIZE=3D5 PTSIZE=3D18 FAMILY=3D"SERIF" FACE=3D"times new roman" LANG=
=3D"0"></I>Gay marriages in New York town<BR>
by Michael Hill<BR>
<BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" BACK=3D"#ffffff" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR:=20=
#ffffff" SIZE=3D2 PTSIZE=3D10 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"Verdana" LANG=3D"=
0">Feb. 27, 2004 | </FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" BACK=3D"#ffffff" sty=
le=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3D3 PTSIZE=3D12 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" F=
ACE=3D"Verdana" LANG=3D"0"> </FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" BACK=3D"#ffffff"=
style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3D1 PTSIZE=3D8 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF=
" FACE=3D"Verdana" LANG=3D"0">NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) -- </FONT><FONT COLOR=
=3D"#000000" BACK=3D"#ffffff" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3D3 P=
TSIZE=3D12 FAMILY=3D"SERIF" FACE=3D"times new roman" LANG=3D"0">Up to a doze=
n gay couples began exchanging wedding vows on the steps of village hall Fri=
day in a spirited ceremony that opened another front on the growing national=
debate over gay marriage. <BR>
<BR>
Officiating was Jason West, the 26-year-old Green Party mayor in this villag=
e 75 miles north of New York City, who joined Gavin Newsom of San Francisco=20=
as the country's only mayors to marry same-sex couples. <BR>
<BR>
"What we're witnessing in America today is the flowering of the largest civi=
l rights movement the country's had in a generation," West said. <BR>
<BR>
Billiam van Roestenberg, 38, and Jeffrey McGowan, 39, were the first to wed=20=
to the cheers of the crowd. Wearing suits, they held hands and carried flowe=
rs.<BR>
<BR>
"I feel happy and joyful and peaceful," van Roestenberg said. "A little bit=20=
of peace has finally come in. I feel proud to be an American." <BR>
<BR>
"Now I'm normal and equal like every one else," he said. <BR>
<BR>
More than 100 people, mostly supporters of gay marriage, turned out on the g=
reen across from village hall, outnumbering family and friends of the couple=
s there to marry. A few scattered protesters carried signs opposing gay marr=
iage. <BR>
<BR>
Jay Blotcher of High Falls, N.Y., said that while West could only give him a=
certificate and not a marriage license, it was still important to go throug=
h the ceremony. "We have to show people who we are," he said. <BR>
<BR>
"We've been badmouthed by religious zealots. We've been deprived by Presiden=
t Bush and we have to show people that we're your friends, neighbors and fam=
ily." <BR>
<BR>
One protester stood outside the hall with a sign that read, in part, "It's A=
dam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." <BR>
<BR>
"It's against nature," Angelo Da'Quaro said. "It's against religion, it's ag=
ainst all of that." <BR>
<BR>
The ceremonies came a day after the state Health Department said New York's=20=
domestic relations law does not allow marriage licenses for same-sex couples=
. It said a clerk issuing such a license or anyone solemnizing such a marria=
ge would be violating state law. <BR>
<BR>
West and some legal experts said they read the law differently. <BR>
<BR>
"For a marriage to be legal in this state all that's required is for it to b=
e properly solemnized by someone with authority to do so," West told the CNN=
cable network early Friday. "I'm fully able to do that." <BR>
<BR>
Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School, said nothing in New Yor=
k law explicitly prohibits same-sex weddings, but that the framers "clearly=20=
were contemplating opposite-sex marriages." <BR>
<BR>
Discussion of gay marriage heated up this month after the top Massachusetts=20=
court ruled that anything less than full-fledged marriage for gays there wou=
ld be unconstitutional. Since then, San Francisco officials have performed m=
ore than 3,400 same-sex marriages and have challenged their state law barrin=
g such unions. Earlier this week, President Bush endorsed a movement to amen=
d the Constitution to ban the practice. <BR>
<BR>
A bill in the New York Legislature would ban same-sex marriages. Similar bil=
ls have died without action in the past. At least 34 states have enacted so-=
called defense of marriage laws. <BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" BACK=3D"#ffffff" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR:=20=
#ffffff" SIZE=3D2 PTSIZE=3D10 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"Arial" LANG=3D"0"=
>=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D<BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" BACK=3D"#ffffff" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR:=20=
#ffffff" SIZE=3D5 PTSIZE=3D18 FAMILY=3D"SERIF" FACE=3D"times new roman" LANG=
=3D"0"><BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#000000" BACK=3D"#ffffff" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR:=20=
#ffffff" SIZE=3D3 PTSIZE=3D12 FAMILY=3D"SERIF" FACE=3D"times new roman" LANG=
=3D"0"><BR>
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