New York’s City Hall turned away hundreds of same-sex couples who showed up today to be apply for marriage licenses as part of a week-long national demonstration highlighting marriage inequality in the United States. The 12th annual ‘Freedom to Marry’ week sponsored by the organization with the same name has committed to daily demonstrations to make the case for equal rights for gays and lesbians. If you couldn’t make it down to City Hall today, tomorrow’s activity only requires a cell phone– organizers are urging people to ‘Txt for Equality’. Details here.
The AP spoke with some of the would be wedded outside City Hall:
“Hundreds of same-sex couples seeking to wed were turned away from the city marriage bureau Thursday, part of a nationwide protest aimed at recent decisions restricting the right to marry to a man and a woman.
Wearing signs that said “Just Not Married,” the activists were part of a wave of demonstrations expected throughout the day at marriage bureaus or county clerks’ offices from New York City to California, in communities large and small.
Matt Flanders, 37, of Brooklyn, participated with his 29-year-old partner, Will Jennings. Both wore gold engagement rings.
When he was denied a marriage license, Flanders said he told officials: “‘I should be able to marry the person I love.’ And they said, `We can only offer you a domestic partnership.'”
Micah Stanek, 23, stood outside in a floor-length wedding veil after he and his partner were rejected. He said he moved to New York from San Francisco after gay marriage was outlawed in California on the November ballot.
“New York is especially important because the rest of the country follows what happens here,” he said.
Outside the bureau, protesters sang “Love and Marriage” and chanted, “What do we want? Marriage! When do we want it? Now!” One man held a sign that read: “Love your husband? Let me love mine!”
Wolf
Japh:
“If you couldn’t make it down to City Hall today, tomorrow’s activity only requires a cell phone.”
You know MORE people probably would have made it today it you announced it earlier instead of showing Casey Afflecks shirt hiked at airport security.
Not one of the Major Gay blogs either Queerty or Towelroad bothered to announce it.
villager
Oh snap!!
Leland Frances
“Micah Stanek, 23, stood outside in a floor-length wedding veil….”
MEMO TO Fred Phelps, James Dobson, Traditional Values Coalition, American Family Association, Rick Warren, Ann Coulter, and other professional homohaters of all stripes: stop wasting your time, your money, your breath. We have enough attention desperate idiots in our community doing your work for you that all you need do is watch from the comfort of your caves and laugh.
GJO
Where was this announced before hand? I read the typical blogs every night and saw nothing on this!
Who ever the organizers are they are not getting the word out!
Wolf
Actually GJO Press Releases WERE sent out and it has been up on the Join The Impact Website also.
Leland Frances
AS IF Queerty existed to be your Big Apple bulletin board. I dare say that 99% of those who would have been genuinely interested in coming to this event are already linked in with local groups whose job it IS to publicize such things.
I’d submit that the small turnout was the result of two things:
1. The majority of those fortunate enough to be employed might not have the luxury of taking a workday off willy nilly.
2. And perhaps, from prior experience, job or not, they knew that some attention addict freak like Miss “This Is About ME ME ME!” in the veil would show up and draw the media’s attention like the insects that they are away from the ISSUE and to her, thus making the entire event COUNTERPRODUCTIVE. Bless those others who showed up without the insatiable need to show off.
Nevertheless, we ARE encouraged to learn that it was listed on the Join the Impacted Bowels site so that perhaps the pathetic turn out [how many hundreds of thousands of gays live in NY?] is a sign that their totally undeserved influence is ovuh!
Charles J. Mueller
@Leland Frances:
Join the Impacted Bowels, which I was stupid enough to joint and support, never even had the courtesy to reply to an email I sent them several months ago, at the behest of Chris from Citizen Crain, on how to go about organizing a 40th Anniversary Stonewall March on Washington, DC this summer?
I am so sick of so-called, self-serving gay organisations whose only vocabulary seems to be “We need your help. Send more money”.
So much for for working with the “grass roots folks”.
Pismires!
alan brickman
why haven’t you been marching for the last 8 years too?….