Same-sex marriage has gone bi-coastal.  Late Thursday afternoon, the mayor of New Paltz a small community in the Hudson Valley announced he would begin performing gay marriages on Friday.

Mayor Jason West said he intends to marry at least four same-sex couples at a small inn in the village about 75 miles north of New York City.

"We as a society have no right to discriminate in marriage any more than we have the right to discriminate when someone votes or when someone wants to hold office," West told the AP. "The people who would forbid gays from marrying in this country are those who would have made Rosa Parks sit in the back of the bus."

Mayor West will solemnize the marriages without marriage licenses being issued a practice that is legal in New York, but the couples have six months from the time of the wedding to get licenses.  It is expected that the same-sex marriage battle will begin over those licenses.

"The couples who will get married in New Paltz tomorrow need the protections and support that only marriage can provide.  Their marriages should be respected just like anyone else's.

"When democratically elected public officials swear to uphold the Constitution and treat everyone equally, that promise includes lesbians and gay men.  It's encouraging to see elected officials take their duty seriously." 

West made his announcement hours after celebrity couple Rosie O'Donnell and Kelli Carpenter O'Donnell were married in San Francisco where nearly 4,000 other couples have married in the past couple of weeks.

"We do expect that any action taken by a locality, like we’re seeing in New Paltz, should be done with the commitment to see it through to the end so that it will ultimately stand up in Albany and real progress is achieved," said Empire State Pride Agenda in a statement.

Earlier today, three Democrats introduced a motion Thursday at New York city hall to condemn a proposed amendment to the US Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. (story)  However, mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said he would not permit the city clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the Big Apple. 

FUENTE: 365GAY.COM

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