[Equal Marriage] Fwd: [GreenAllianceUSA] TWO YEARS AFTER: Gay marriage in New Paltz

[Owen Broadhurst]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Don DeBar <dondebar at yahoo.com>
Date: Feb 27, 2006 5:44 AM
Subject: [GreenAllianceUSA] TWO YEARS AFTER: Gay marriage in New Paltz
To: Don DeBar <dondebar at yahoo.com>

February 27, 2006
Watershed event made big waves
Gay marriages world news
By Jeremiah Horrigan
Times Herald-Record
jhorrigan at th-record.com   New Paltz - No one, least of all Jason West,
expected it to be as big as it was. Front page news locally, yeah, but not
nationally. Not internationally. Nothing that anyone would much remember two
weeks after it happened.
But it's been two years now, and people have yet to forget the ceremonies in
the surprising winter sun, the crush of shouting reporters, the cheers and
tears and declarations of love and defiance. For the legally inclined, 25
same-sex marriages were "solemnized" by West that day. Most of the rest of
the world called it the day that gay marriage transcended its legal
definitions and turned into something else - a watershed sociopolitical
event that reflected both the hopes and fears of everyone who witnessed it.
West sounds weary and impatient when asked to look back on the event. He's
been the lightning rod toward which opponents of gay marriage (and, he says,
gays themselves) have directed their wrath. Eighteen misdemeanor criminal
charges against him were dropped last year by Ulster County District
Attorney Don Williams. But a lawsuit brought by a legal firm associated with
the Rev. Jerry Falwell continues to wind its way through the courts. None of
those decisions has found much merit in West's legal argument.
Mention of the civil lower-court rulings that have gone against him gets
West agitated, a condition he's no stranger to and one that sometimes seems
to increase his argumentative skills.
What people don't realize, what the courts have completely and deliberately
ignored and the news media failed to adequately explain, he says, is that
state law already allows same-sex marriage. State law makes no mention of
marriage being a pact between a man and a woman, no matter what state
officials, politicians or judges say.
"It's just not there," he says.
But what really gets West going is how often and how glibly judges,
politicians and middle-of-the-road opponents of gay marriage say the issue
can't and shouldn't be resolved in the courts. It's a legislative issue,
they say, and no one in the state Legislature has picked up that ball.
"The silence has been deafening," he says.
Even with the whole world watching, even if the air that day was as full of
promises as the day's sunshine, the gay marriage ceremonies couldn't
guarantee happy endings. The first gay couple married by West, Billiam van
Roestenberg and Jeffrey McGowan, have separated. At least one other couple
has reportedly also separated.
Jay Blotcher and Brook Garrett were the second male couple to have their
relationship solemnized that day. They're still together. They recently
bought a house.
But what heterosexual couples take for granted, Blotcher and Garrett can't
assume. Health-care proxies, for example, are needed to assure each other
hospital visitation rights if one of them should become ill.
"My husband and I have no rights," Blotcher says. "We're second-class
citizens."
That's what the gay rights struggle boils down to for Blotcher - the fight
to escape second-class citizenship.
On that front, he says, it's been a roller coaster ride. On the national
level, Republicans are promising to pursue the so-called "Marriage
Protection Amendment." States like West Virginia are introducing new
anti-gay laws. Even New York City has been unable to pass legislation
prohibiting the city from doing business with businesses that discriminate
against gays.
Amid all that bad news, Blotcher sardonically notes that the movie with the
most Oscar nominations concerns the love affair of two cowboys.
On the positive side, Blotcher sees two developments with promise: the New
Paltz Gay Pride March and the gay and lesbian community's efforts to
establish a community center.
The march, he says, is a direct result of the wedding ceremonies; both moves
represent an effort to "keep the momentum going."
You've got to remember the weddings didn't create a gay community, but they
helped keep the spark alive, helped keep the political dimension alive,
which is crucial if we're ever going to overcome being second-class
citizens."


   DDeBar
87 Ferris Place
Ossining, NY 10562
914 739-2700 days
914 945-0815 eves
dondebar at optonline.net
Visit the Regional Roundup website
Tri-state community news and information at http://www.regionalroundup.org
Listen to WBAI - 99.5 FM in New York City
Peace and Justice Radio
On the Web at http://www.wbai.org




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--
Owen R. Broadhurst
Candidate for State Representative
Third Hampden District
http://www.owenbroadhurst.org