Queersetti
Bastardo Suave
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From wnbc.com
Hudson Valley Village Mayor Says He Will Oversee Gay Marriages
West Calls Action 'My Moral Obligation'
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. -- The 26-year-old mayor of this Hudson Valley village says he will begin performing gay marriages Friday, calling it "my moral obligation."
Mayor Jason West, who won office last year on the Green Party line, said he intends to marry at least four same-gender couples at a private bed and breakfast in the village. The move could make this college village 75 miles north of New York City another flash point in national debate over gay marriage.
"We as a society have no right to discriminate in marriage any more than we have the right to discriminate when someone votes or when someone wants to hold office," West said in a phone interview. "The people who would forbid gays from marrying in this country are those who would have made Rosa Parks sit in the back of the bus."
In recent months, gay marriage has exploded onto the national scene as judges and local officials have aggressively attempted to redefine marriage. A bill in the New York Legislature would ban same-sex marriages, saying a "marriage or union is absolutely void if contracted by two persons of the same sex, regardless of whether such marriage or union is recognized or solemnized in another jurisdiction."
Similar bills have died without action in the past. At least 34 states have enacted so-called defense of marriage laws.
Amid the furor, President Bush announced Tuesday that he will back a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage -- citing recent court decisions.
West said he believes New York state law gives him the power to marry the couples. New York's attorney general has not issued a ruling on the question.
West won the mayor's race in this village dominated by the State University of New York at New Paltz last year at age 26, surprising many residents.
Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said nothing specifically outlaws the ceremonies.
"Bravo, bravo for the mayor," she said. "Equal rights for gay couples are long overdue. They are entitled to equal treatment under the law, including the right to marry and the family protections enjoyed by heterosexual couples."
Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School, said nothing in New York law explicitly prohibits a same-sex wedding but that the framers of the constitution "clearly were contemplating opposite sex marriages."
In Iowa, 15 gay and lesbian couples plan Friday to seek marriage licenses in Iowa City, testing state law that defines marriage strictly as a union of a man and a woman.
"I fully expect to be turned down, and that in itself is significant," said Janelle Rettig, who is organizing the event with her partner of 15 years, Robin Butler.
Johnson County Recorder Kim Painter said she will uphold state law and deny the requests.
Rettig said she and other gay and lesbian couples from Iowa City, another liberal college town, have been emboldened by support from President Bush and others for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
"What is missing from this whole debate is that these are real people with real concerns and real families," Rettig said. "And when the politicians use us as their political punching bags, they lose sight that we are real people."
Hudson Valley Village Mayor Says He Will Oversee Gay Marriages
West Calls Action 'My Moral Obligation'
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. -- The 26-year-old mayor of this Hudson Valley village says he will begin performing gay marriages Friday, calling it "my moral obligation."
Mayor Jason West, who won office last year on the Green Party line, said he intends to marry at least four same-gender couples at a private bed and breakfast in the village. The move could make this college village 75 miles north of New York City another flash point in national debate over gay marriage.
"We as a society have no right to discriminate in marriage any more than we have the right to discriminate when someone votes or when someone wants to hold office," West said in a phone interview. "The people who would forbid gays from marrying in this country are those who would have made Rosa Parks sit in the back of the bus."
In recent months, gay marriage has exploded onto the national scene as judges and local officials have aggressively attempted to redefine marriage. A bill in the New York Legislature would ban same-sex marriages, saying a "marriage or union is absolutely void if contracted by two persons of the same sex, regardless of whether such marriage or union is recognized or solemnized in another jurisdiction."
Similar bills have died without action in the past. At least 34 states have enacted so-called defense of marriage laws.
Amid the furor, President Bush announced Tuesday that he will back a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage -- citing recent court decisions.
West said he believes New York state law gives him the power to marry the couples. New York's attorney general has not issued a ruling on the question.
West won the mayor's race in this village dominated by the State University of New York at New Paltz last year at age 26, surprising many residents.
Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said nothing specifically outlaws the ceremonies.
"Bravo, bravo for the mayor," she said. "Equal rights for gay couples are long overdue. They are entitled to equal treatment under the law, including the right to marry and the family protections enjoyed by heterosexual couples."
Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School, said nothing in New York law explicitly prohibits a same-sex wedding but that the framers of the constitution "clearly were contemplating opposite sex marriages."
In Iowa, 15 gay and lesbian couples plan Friday to seek marriage licenses in Iowa City, testing state law that defines marriage strictly as a union of a man and a woman.
"I fully expect to be turned down, and that in itself is significant," said Janelle Rettig, who is organizing the event with her partner of 15 years, Robin Butler.
Johnson County Recorder Kim Painter said she will uphold state law and deny the requests.
Rettig said she and other gay and lesbian couples from Iowa City, another liberal college town, have been emboldened by support from President Bush and others for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
"What is missing from this whole debate is that these are real people with real concerns and real families," Rettig said. "And when the politicians use us as their political punching bags, they lose sight that we are real people."
