# New Paltz, New York, to perform same-sex marriages **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410 "2004-02-27T03:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/1 "2004-02-27T03:43:45Z")
From [365gay.com](http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/02/022604nyWed.htm): > [@](#): > > 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. > > [snip] > > 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. > > “New York law says that a marriage should not be void just because no license was issued. State courts have upheld that previously,[”] said David Buckel, Director of Lambda Legal’s Marriage Project. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/2 "2004-02-27T03:49:30Z")
I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that New Paltz is a college town. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/3 "2004-02-27T03:51:37Z")
I am not Gay, but I can’t believe we live in a world where people, politicians no less, would openly attempt to ban Gay marriages, as if they were some kind of child-molesting mass murdering orgy of filth. This is medieval stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/4 "2004-02-27T06:34:28Z")
I’m pretty familiar with New Paltz; it’s more 1960’s college town than anything else - they’ve always been pretty open-minded & progressive, which is part of the reason that it’s such a great little town. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/5 "2004-02-27T07:11:17Z")
Good on New Paltz. Never heard of them, but it’s on my list sensible cities. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/6 "2004-02-27T14:08:24Z")
In _Old_ Paltz, on the other hand, you can’t even wear lipstick, or skirts above your ankle . . . ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/7 "2004-02-27T14:12:49Z")
Well, then. That’s a step in the right direction. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/8 "2004-02-27T14:16:17Z")
Civil disobedience is an interesting approach, but I still think this thing needs to be addressed in the legislature. Otherwise, we’re gonna’ have troubles. For instance, what happens when these folks check “married, filing jointly” on their tax returns? ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/9 "2004-02-27T16:36:37Z")
Well good for him. Maybe Civil disobedience will start us on the road to some reasonable legislation. (though I think we have to lose dubya first) I still have a hard time understanding what those who oppose same gender marriage are so afraid of. But that’s what it boils down to…fear. It’s sad really. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/10 "2004-02-27T16:58:53Z")
Well, this should liven up local politics. Mayor West is essentially in the middle of a war with the rest of the village government. While I don’t doubt he honestly supports gay marriages, I also suspect he’s courting the national publicity he knows will now be focused on him. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/11 "2004-02-27T17:12:06Z")
> [@Exgineer](#): > > Civil disobedience is an interesting approach, but I still think this thing needs to be addressed in the legislature. Otherwise, we’re gonna’ have troubles. > > For instance, what happens when these folks check “married, filing jointly” on their tax returns? If the IRS twigs to the fact that both taxpayers are of the same sex, whatever happens to returns the IRS considers invalid will happen. That would happen even if the legislature of the state of New York unanimously passed a law opening up marriage to same-sex couples. The state government has no power to force the federal government to accept its definition of “married” and the federal “Defense of Marriage Act” would bar a tax return filed by a same-sex married couple. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/12 "2004-02-27T18:46:47Z")
Thanks, **Otto**. This entire situation just chews. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/13 "2004-02-27T19:08:14Z")
Go NY go! 🙂 It really would have to be New Paltz. It’s a rural, upstate college town populated primarily by hippies. I don’t know if this will be popular with the locals or not - I have a friend in school up there, so I’ll ask - but it seems to fit somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/14 "2004-02-27T20:32:31Z")
Kudos to them. It seems the “activists” I hear so much bitching about are dragging the country forward, kicking and screaming the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/15 "2004-02-27T21:11:25Z")
[Nyack NY will recognize SSM](http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/02/022704nyackGay.htm) > [@Nyack mayor John Shields](#): > > I don’t understand how extending marriage to same-gender couples undermines traditional marriage or weakens community. On the contrary, I believe personal commitments strengthen community. A powerful way to affirm traditional marriage is to have strong marriages between committed people. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/16 "2004-02-27T21:52:00Z")
> [@Cosmopolitan](#): > > I’m pretty familiar with New Paltz; it’s more 1960’s college town than anything else - they’ve always been pretty open-minded & progressive, which is part of the reason that it’s such a great little town. It’s also home to a [nice, old resort hotel](http://www.mohonk.com/), not that I’ve seen inside. Closest I’ve ever been was the trail up Mohonk Mountain and watching [The Road to Wellville](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111001/combined). ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/17 "2004-02-28T02:32:39Z")
My family has a house in New Paltz - belonged to my paternal grandparents; we can see the Mohonk Mountain House tower from the back windows of our house. It’s really quite a beautiful view & it will hopefully continue to be, as long as developers don’t get a foothold in the Shawangunks. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/18 "2004-02-28T18:12:19Z")
[NY Health Dept rains on the parade](http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/02/022704nyChallenge.htm) > [@](#): > > The Health Department, which registers marriages in New York State wasted no time to try to put a stop to New Platz’s newfound fame. It has asked Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to seek an injunction that would prevent what the department calls “further illegal conduct by the mayor.” ---
**Author:** ![zapomel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/67e7ee/32.png) [@zapomel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zapomel)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/19 "2004-02-28T23:10:21Z")
You know, one of my favorite T-shirts is the one that says “I got solemnized in New Paltz.” ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410/20 "2004-02-29T06:10:31Z")
The mayor is undeterred by the Dept of Health’s attempt to derail the marriage train. The village is being swamped with requests for marriages; to date [over 500 couples](http://www.villageofnewpaltz.org/) have signed up for the waiting list. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-paltz-new-york-to-perform-same-sex-marriages/231410.md?page=2)