1st Gay Couples Legally Wed at Niagara Falls, NY

Source: Associated Press


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/24/new-york-gay-marriage_n_907901.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

New York Gay Marriage: First Gay Couples Marry At Midnight

By CAROLYN THOMPSON 07/24/11 12:08 AM ET

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. -- Gay-rights activists Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd were legally married the very first moment they could be during a midnight ceremony at Niagara Falls that ushered in same-sex marriage in the state and marked a pivotal moment in the national drive for recognition.

With a rainbow-lit Niagara Falls as a backdrop early Sunday, Lambert, 54, and Rudd, 53, were among the first gay couples to tie the knot with the blessing of the state, which last month became the sixth and largest to sanction gay marriage. Couples in Albany, Hudson and Long Island also exchanged vows just after midnight Saturday, kicking off what was expected to be a Sunday packed with weddings.

The Buffalo women, grandmothers with 12 grandchildren between them, have been together for more than a decade and had long been fighting for the right to marry.

Mayor Paul Dyster performed the ceremony, which was attended by some of the state lawmakers whose vote last month made it possible.

MORE AT ABOVE LINK

Midnight vows make NY largest gay-marriage state

By CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated Press © 2011 The Associated Press
July 23, 2011, 11:03PM

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Several gay couples have become the first to legally wed in New York, the largest state to sanction same-sex marriage.

Gay-rights activists Kitty Lambert and Cheryle (SHEH'-ruhl) Rudd were declared married in Niagara Falls just past the stroke of midnight Saturday, joining other couples across the state.
The early Sunday marriages mark a pivotal moment in the national drive for recognition.

New York is the sixth state to allow same-sex marriage. Its historic vote to legalize it last month was viewed by advocates and opponents as a watershed that would galvanize both sides.

In Hudson, about 30 miles south of the capital, Albany, Linda Mussman and Claudia Bruce legally married after 35 years together. And in Albany, Mayor Jerry Jennings said he'd marry a handful of couples who wanted to be among the first.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7666940.html#ixzz1SzargOWE

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7666940.html

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Same-sex couple becomes first to say 'I do'

By Kevin J. Bargnes
NEWS STAFF REPORTER

Updated: July 24, 2011, 12:06 AM

NIAGARA FALLS — New York State ushered in same-sex marriage at 12:01 a.m. with the wedding of a Buffalo couple, punctuating the end of a long fight for gay-rights activists.

Hundreds gathered on Goat Island on Saturday night, waiting for the clock to strike midnight for the marriage of Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd. The two aimed to become the first gay couple to legally marry in New York State following this morning’s enactment of the Marriage Equality Act, signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last month.

- snip -

The fight was difficult for Lambert and Rudd, who have been together for 12 years. Rudd has battled cervical and thyroid cancer, and Lambert has suffered three heart attacks. Each time one was in the hospital, the other struggled through red tape that failed to recognize their relationship.

"By law, because I had my last heart attack in Arizona, if I had died, they wouldn’t have notified her, they couldn’t have notified her," Lambert said. "And those are critical issues, those are critical things that people have to consider."

n/t

:thumbsup:

That's right folks, us gay-agenda-people know how to BREED!

(Looking up in the sky) No fire raining down on us, no lightning bolts being thrown on us from an "angry God"... Christian Fundies, wrong again!!!!! haha

Seriously, though- Congratulations and all the best to all of the new newlyweds. :)

great picture.

SNIP

As a wedding present to the couple, (Mayor) Dyster personally paid for the falls to be lit the colors of the rainbow past midnight, and presented them with a frame photograph of the falls lit up with that color.

SNIP

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article498955.ece

is doing an all nighter praying for a hurricane to strike NYC. Poor, poor, Pat.

They were married in the heart way before this...
and we have freedom of religion in this country, so more power to them...
But screw the state for pretending they are the AUTHORITY to define religious terms...

Seperation of Church and State... it's supposed to have a meaning, remember... ANYONE?
the state should NEVER have had the right to issue "marriage licenses", in any type of union, straight or gay...they are NOT the religious authorities of our country... PERIOD!

You are the religious authority of your own being... (if you want to be)

Anyway, I'm glad they can file taxes together and visit each other in a hospital if it came down to it...
it's lame that anyone tried to deny them that in the past... so that's reason to celebrate

BUT I don't celebrate the people granting the state the authority to define religious terms, or thinking that they needed them to...
I'm pro "Civil Union", BUT against "Gay Marriage" as a legal term the state should use... (ofcourse you can call it whatever you want, and guess what....you always could)
the state however, should never legally be allowed or encouraged to use and/or define such terms... they are NOY the authorities...
and this issue would be so much easier for the LBGT community to win across the country if they understood that
Peace y'all, this issue really never had to be so controversial

I'm not gay so this doesn't impact me directly, but dammit this is a human rights issue and let's celebrate this wedding.! Mazel tov!

Congrats, New Yorkers!

New York does what Hawaii, whose tourism industry rivals NY, failed to do in 1998.

The Mormon crusade against gay marriage started back in Hawaii. The measure was going to pass (I lived there). In the last two weeks before the election, the Mormon's launched a scathing ad campaign and frightened everyone to death. Sadly, it failed, though only by a small measure.

We all said at the time that they were only delaying the inevitable.

In 2011, at the other end, when it's obvious the Mormon crusade has failed, the past 13 years has a strange muting effect on the joy we share.

When I think of all the lives of partners everywhere and many friends and lovers who dealt with this cruel legal joke for so long, it becomes more evident to me what the real human price is of these new successes in the gay rights movement.

For all of us who have lived through this ridiculous time, there are only two real distinct feelings for me:

Sadness enshrined in pride for those who have had to tolerate injustice.
Gratitude to all for being willing to stand with us.

Peace

November before last.

Best wishes and Good Luck to them.

LOL.

Seriously though, the sanctity of marriage?
Has anyone shown these fundies the divorce rate?

Sanctity is overrated.
Human well being and flexible understanding of biology is
better, says I.

Enjoy that honeymoon!
It doesn't last forever.
:D

Source: NYT

By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ


Cheryle Rudd, in white, and Kitty Lambert, moments after being wed by Mayor Paul A. Dyster of Niagara Falls, N.Y.

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Against a cascade of rainbow-colored falls and with cicadas humming in the background, Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd became one of the first, if not the first, same-sex couples to wed in New York State shortly after midnight on Sunday.

After 12 tolls of a bell to ring in the new day, the mayor of Niagara Falls, Paul A. Dyster, said, “By the power vested in me by the laws of the state of New York, I now pronounce you legally married.” And Ms. Lambert, 54, and Ms. Rudd, 53, kissed in front of more than 100 friends and family members.

It was 12 years to the day after their first date.

Many of the onlookers cheered and cried at the sight of the newlyweds, who had become a local symbol of the civil rights struggle that culminated in the state’s approval of same-sex marriage last month.


Read more: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/gay-marriage-with-a-kiss-and-a-vow-the-day-begins/

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Niagara Falls lit up with the colors of the rainbow on the first day of N.Y.'s Marriage Equality -- http://twitpic.com/5uxxrt

It was a beautiful and fitting tribute the the significance of today. The bigotry of homophobia is being swept over the waterfall of a more "evolved" nation. It is not happening as quickly as we would prefer, but it is happening.

Congratulations to all of those couples in NY who will now be able to fulfill their dreams.

Regarding the rainbow lights ...

Same-sex couple wastes no time in saying 'I do'

SNIP

"By the power vested in me by the laws of the State of New York, I now pronounce you legally married," said Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, who performed the ceremony, with the Bridal Veil Falls thundering behind him.

SNIP

As a wedding present to the couple, (Mayor) Dyster personally paid for the falls to be lit the colors of the rainbow past midnight, and presented them with a frame photograph of the falls lit up with that color.

SNIP

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article498955.ece

p.s. The link above also has a video of the special moment!

What a great thing for him to do. It goes a long way toward restoring my faith that the country is not yet morally lost.

a lady we know in NYC who is planning to get married to her partner. He told me that there are about a half-million people who want to get married in NY and they're having some kind of lottery to determine who gets to be married first. Anyone know if that's true?

beautiful :)
NYC Marriage Lottery Results: Everybody Wins
http://www.bilerico.com/2011/07/nyc_marriage_lottery_results_everybody_wins.php
and
New ministers ordained to officiate at same-sex weddings around New York
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2011/07/24/2011-07-24_2ordain24m.html

Gay rights are civil rights!

Congratulations to all the lucky couples.

Having grown up in Niagara Falls, there is precious little that I can be proud of from my hometown. Finally I have something!
And might I add it's about time the state, and hopefully the rest of the nation, gets it's head out of it's collective ass on the subject. Why shouldn't gays be allowed to enter the same crappy contract as the rest of us :)

Cheers! May all my brothers and sisters have long and beautiful marriages.

good for them

K&R

Source: The Buffalo News

NIAGARA FALLS — New York State ushered in same-sex marriage at 12:01 a.m. with the wedding of a Buffalo couple, punctuating the end of a long fight for gay-rights activists.

Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd were wed in Niagara Falls just after midnight.

"By the power vested in me by the laws of the State of New York, I now pronounce you legally married," said Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, who performed the ceremony, with the Bridal Veil Falls thundering behind him.

After exchanging rings and sending out wishes to 44 states that don't recognize same-sex marriage, the couple danced in the grass near the falls.

Read more: http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article498955.ece

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We needed this!