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Unitarian Ministers Defy
Authorities
by Conducting Same-Sex Weddings in New Paltz
New
York Times
By Thomas Cramptom
Published: March 7, 2004
CLICK HERE FOR SOURCE ARTICLE
NEW PALTZ, N.Y., March 6 - Stepping
in for the mayor who faces misdemeanor charges and a court injunction for
solemnizing New York's first same-sex weddings last week, two Unitarian
ministers defied threats of prosecution to wed 13 lesbian couples here on
Saturday.
Under a makeshift tent on the banks
of the Wallkill River, and under the watchful eye of police officers taking
notes, the ministers acknowledged that they were breaking the law. A
celebratory crowd of several hundred supporters blew bubbles over the
newlyweds and handed out Champagne.
"I have never knowingly violated the
law at any previous time in my life," said Dawn Sangrey, the minister who
leads the Fourth Unitarian Society of Westchester County. "I am perfectly
willing to face jail and fines for conducting these marriages."
Mayor Jason West said on Friday that
he would not officiate at any more marriages until after a meeting next week
with Eliot Spitzer, the state attorney general.
The marriages conducted by the
ministers and Mr. West took place without the customary marriage licenses,
and will probably face court challenges. State law allows clergymen, mayors
and certain other officials to officiate at weddings, but they can do so
only for couples with marriage licenses. Donald A. Williams, the Ulster
County district attorney, who charged Mr. West last week with 19 counts of
solemnizing marriages without licenses, said he intended to prosecute anyone
else who broke that law.
"I am pleased the mayor decided not
to solemnize marriages," Mr. Williams said in an interview on Friday. "The
mayor of New Paltz must recognize that he is not above the law, and neither
are clergy or anyone else who performs solemnizations without marriage
licenses."
After the mayor's announcement that
he would refrain from officiating at any more same-sex marriages, the
grass-roots gay marriage movement in New Paltz quickly distanced itself from
the village government.
Moving meetings away from Village
Hall and into a pink Victorian bed-and-breakfast, a group of residents and
students from the State University College at New Paltz worked late Friday
night to prepare for the marriages on Saturday. Calling themselves the New
Paltz Equality Initiative, the group of two dozen volunteers said marriage
ceremonies would take place every Saturday. "There is a waiting list of more
than 1,000 couples," said Charles I. Clement, a spokesman for the group.
One of the first people to wed, Kay
A. Greenleaf, was also one of the ministers who officiated. Ms. Greenleaf
took as her "marriage partner" her companion of 17 years, Pat A. Sullivan.
Ms. Sangrey officiated.
"I wish the opponents of same-sex
marriage could share in the jovial and celebratory atmosphere here," Ms.
Greenleaf said before the ceremony. "It might not change their minds, but it
may give them pause."
The couples walked out of the
marriage tent to raucous cheers, and many in the crowd joined in a rendition
of John Lennon's "Imagine," accompanied by an acoustic guitar.
Although the same-sex marriage
movement has many supporters in New Paltz, the mayor has been criticized for
using tax money to pay for police overtime during the wedding ceremonies.
Others overtly object to
homosexual acts, including a group from Kansas threatening to picket the
village in the next several weeks and a lone protester on Saturday who held
aloft a placard quoting the Bible. "It took a lot of courage to come down
here to protest," said the protester, Wayne D. Ackert, 63, a lifelong
resident of New Paltz. "I want people to turn back from homosexual acts."
The couples who married on Saturday
cited a variety of reasons for their deciding to marry.
"My partner cannot get the same Army
veteran rights given to straight couples," said Robee VanNorman, a retired
Army medic of her companion of 15 years, Nancy VanNorman. "They even
discriminate beyond death, since she cannot be buried next to me in a
military cemetery."
Six of the couples had children
through adoption, artificial insemination or previous marriages to men.
"We are hoping to have another
child," said Terri-Ann Sweet, who married her companion of four years, Rita
Randall. "My daughter cried with excitement when I told her we could get
married today."
Maria Brandt, who wed her partner of
17 years, Michelle Lottridge, said she felt jitters about marrying, but not
the usual kind. "I just don't want to have the cops haul me in or get beat
up by gay bashers," she said.
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