All Over Albany

Speed reading the coverage of the first weekend of same sex marriage

This weekend was an historic one for New Yorkers and civil rights as the first same-sex couples took their vows across the state, many of them just after the Marriage Equality Act took effect after midnight Sunday. Families, friends -- media members -- crowded into chambers to witness the historic ceremonies.

Here's a quick scan of the coverage...

The first couple in Albany

+ Dale Getto and Barbara Laven were married by Jerry Jennings shortly after midnight in a private ceremony at Albany city hall. Jerry Jennings claimed that they were the first same-sex marriage in the entire state -- performed before 12:01 am. [NYT] [Fox23] [@dannyhakim]

+ Albany residents Al Martino and Harold Lohner were married in a public ceremony in the Common Council chambers shortly after midnight on Sunday. [TU]

+ That first morning six couples got married at city hall. [CBS6]

+ Pete Schroeter and Ed Delph, together 34 years, got married at Rocks in Albany, with Neil Breslin serving as a witness. [Daily Gazette]

+ In Hudson, the operators of Time and Space Limited married there just after midnight and "were feeding each other cake by 12:03." [TU]

+ And a a same-sex couple got married in Washington County Sunday. [Post-Star]

+ Also this weekend, the town of Guilderland appointed new marriage officers to replace Rosemary Centi, the town clerk who gave up the designation of marriage officer because she said that her religious beliefs prohibited her from performing her duties. [YNN]

Around the the state

+ Since the law took effect at the start of Sunday, hundreds of same-sex couples have been married throughout the state. [NYT]

+ Cities were competing to have the first same-sex marriage. Niagara Falls made a claim on the distinction when a pair of grandmothers got married shortly after midnight by the falls. [NYT] [Village Voice] [Reuters/MSNBC]

+ Another 45 couples got married at Niagara Falls. The city is looking to become a "top gay wedding destination." [AP] [Buffalo News]

+ There were many same-sex marriages around New York City. Mike Bloomberg officiated at the wedding of two officials in his administration at Gracie Mansion. [NYDN]

+ The first couple to get married in New York City: Phyllis Siegel, 76, and Connie Kopelov, 85 -- together 23 years. [WSJ]

+ Portraits of 20 couples. [NYT]

+ Said one man after a ceremony in Queens: "I feel like I have finally been accepted, like I don't have to hide anymore." [NYT]

New York State

+ New York is now the largest state in the country in which same-sex marriage is legal, and it doubles the number of people who can now legally marry a person of the same sex. [Troy Record]

+ Said Andrew Cuomo Sunday of the Marriage Equality Act: "It was about equality more than marriage."

Protests

+ There were also a number of protests across the state. The National Organization for Marriage organized protests in Albany, Manhattan, Rochester and Buffalo. [WTEN]

+ State Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., the only Democrat to vote against the marriage equality bill last month, marched through midtown Manhattan with a large crowd of marriage equality foes. He called judges' decisions to waive the 24-hour waiting period for same-sex couples "criminal" and "wrong." "Today, we start the war," he said. [NY Daily News] [Village Voice] [NYT]

+ Many of the protestors called for a public referendum similar to the Prop 8 vote held in California in 2008 that nixed same-sex marriage there. [Fox23]

+ "Hundreds" of people protested outside the state Capitol. Some of the protesters said they believed they would be individually harmed because same-sex marriage would be "shoved" into curricula around the state and that homosexuality causes "bad health effects." [YNN] [WNYT]

+ On Monday a group called New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms filed suit against the state Senate over the passage of the Marriage Equality Act. [State of Politics]

What now?

+ Something same-sex couples can now look forward to from their parents: The "When are you going to married?" pestering (lovingly, of course). [NYT]