Poughkeepsie Journal

Thursday, March 18, 2004
Gay marriage plans, effect discussed
Weddings to go on in New Paltz
By Gabriel J. Wasserman
Poughkeepsie Journal

NEW PALTZ -- Coordinators of same-sex marriages and local citizens worried about their impact plan to meet before Saturday to iron out logistics, such as parking.

Same-sex unions, which have been deemed illegal in New York, are set to continue Saturday in New Paltz. Since Mayor Jason West began them on Feb. 27, the weekly weddings have drawn thousands of spectators and sparked concerns about cost, safety and legality. International media attention, though waning, has accounted for much of the fuss.

''If weddings are to be arranged, they can be arranged without this sort of hoopla, in a more private way,'' village Trustee Vici Danskin said during a discussion at Wednesday night's board meeting. ''Does it have to be a big deal?''

Jessica Marzigliano, who represented the New Paltz Equality Initiative at the meeting, said residents' gripes about parking, traffic, municipal costs and access to a park are all ''valid complaints.'' Her group has been organizing the weddings since the state Supreme Court barred West from performing them.

Indoor ceremonies

Indoor ceremonies are being considered for this weekend because of concerns about weather and mud, Marzigliano said. More precise plans will be announced today, she added.

''We don't want to impose,'' she said, but ''we are planning to continue to do them.''

With more than 1,000 couples waiting to be wed, there's no set end date for the unions, she said. Other days besides Saturday will be added to the program to accommodate Jewish couples, she added.

''It's hard to find places that are accessible, with parking,'' said Town of Olive resident Gale McGovern, who is active in the same-sex marriage initiative. ''We anticipate that our first installment for the police overtime will be paid to the Town of New Paltz within the next two or three weeks. ... Money is being raised to cover all overtime costs.''

But many local residents have said they are concerned about changes in municipal character.

The same-sex marriages and West's appearances on national talk shows are ''turning the town into a three-ring circus,'' village resident Paula Weinstein said. ''You have that sense that ... it's not our town anymore.''

She and other residents told West they are willing to negotiate with the Equality Initiative to find solutions to venue-related problems.

West, who appeared on NBC's ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' Tuesday, maintained his view same-sex marriages are a village obligation under equal-rights provisions of the state constitution.

''I took an oath of office ... to uphold the constitution,'' he reiterated Wednesday night. ''That oath requires me not to discriminate.''

The state Department of Health denies licenses to same-sex couples, and state law prescribes a license for all marriages. Same-sex marriages in New Paltz have not been accompanied by the same level of identification-check paperwork that standard marriages have.

West and a pair of Unitarian Universalist ministers who succeeded him on March 6 face misdemeanor charges of solemnizing unlicensed marriages.