Poughkeepsie Journal

Sunday, March 21, 2004
25 more same-sex couples wed
6 clerics hold outdoor services
By Elizabeth Lynch
Poughkeepsie Journal

NEW PALTZ -- Another 25 same-sex couples tied the knot Saturday in an outdoor ceremony at the Lefevre House Bed and Breakfast.

A half-dozen ministers took turns performing the ceremonies under the bright sunshine.

''We don't know what's going to happen,'' the Rev. Kathleen Hepler, a Unitarian Universalist minister from Lincroft, N.J., said.

She came to New Paltz to help solemnize the couples' relationships because she was inspired by her colleagues, she said. The Revs. Kay Greenleaf and Dawn Sangrey were charged with misdemeanors by Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams last week for allegedly solemnizing marriages without licenses.

The paperwork the couples filled out hasn't been changed since the same-sex ceremonies began in New Paltz Feb. 27, said Charles Clement, co-owner of the Lefevre House. Clement helped coordinate Saturday's weddings.

Not legally recognized

The weddings are not recognized as legal by New York state. The couples did not have marriage licenses issued by a municipal clerk.

Leigh Muscle and Tammie Priselac, of North Carolina, know all the issues and despite the ceremony, they are not legally married.

''This is kind of a step to pave the way,'' Muscle said. ''How better to make a change than to be part of it?''

The weddings attracted a small group of protesters who stood on the corner of South Side Avenue holding signs. One sign read ''Support Traditional Marriages.''

Protester Mike Januszkiewicz said, ''I think this is offensive to God because it is against God's laws.''

Still, after 36 years together, Middletown residents Frank Jett and Eric Bailey came to New Paltz to be married.

''I didn't think I'd cry,'' Jett said after the ceremony.

''It's just time to stand up and say you're proud of what you are,'' he said. ''It wasn't a political stance.''

Hyde Park residents Margaret Keefe and Dianne Conine have been together for 11 years. The two silver-haired women wore red corsages on their winter coats as they were married.

''Equal rights for equal commitment,'' Conine said.

''We really hope this will make it easier for people to follow and to make this commitment,'' Keefe said.

Dwayne Johnson and Brian Giampaoli, of the City of Poughkeepsie, had a civil union ceremony in Vermont before they were married in New Paltz.

''We wanted to be able to have the state of New York recognize relationship,'' Giampaoli said.

Anna Cognetto and M. Charity Gray, of Poughkeepsie, have been together for 13 years.

''A small part of it is to make a statement that we're not second-class citizens,'' Cognetto said. But she added, it's also to ''publicly declare how we feel for each other.''