First same-sex couple wed in New York
July 25th, 2011 - 4:01 am ICT by IANSNew 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.
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Tags: 23 years, cnn, connie, equality act, gay marriage, knot, marriage equality, marriage licence, marriage licences, michael mcsweeney, new york state, onlookers, same sex couples, same sex marriages, sex couple, siegal, two women, wheelchair, women in new york, xinhua