NEW YORK: Another Town Clerk Refuses To Sign Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

A town clerk in Ledyard, New York has informed her bosses that due to her personal religious bigotry, she is unwilling to sign the marriage licenses of same-sex couples. She is the third such town clerk in the state to come forward as a bigot.

Ledyard Town Clerk Rose Marie Belforti submitted a letter to the Ledyard Town Board saying that her religious beliefs prevented her from signing marriage licenses for same-sex couples and the board discussed Belforti’s letter at Monday’s meeting, according to John Binns, a member of the town board. When reached for comment Thursday, Belforti said “that’s not your business” before hanging up the phone. Binns confirmed that Belforti submitted the letter, which he said included a request to the board for Belforti to assign a deputy clerk so the deputy clerk could sign same-sex marriage licenses. Binns said Belforti cited a law which, according to Binns, she said allows her to request a deputy clerk to sign same-sex marriage licenses. Binns said he had mixed feelings on Belforti’s request. While he said he believes that it is the clerk’s job to sign marriage licenses, he added that if the law Belforti cited “is something that stands up,” he will “support whatever the laws are.”

Anti-gay hate groups have vowed to provide a free legal defense to any town clerk that wishes to sue the state over their "denied religious freedoms."

NOM Will Have Trouble Spinning This

According to a just-released poll, a majority of New York voters are either "more likely" to support pro-marriage legislators or simply don't care about the issue.

World Record Lucy

Over 900 women and men dressed as Lucille Ball gathered in the star's birthplace of Jamestown, New York this weekend, setting a new Guinness record.

Lively: NY Marriage Hastens End Times

"God has chosen rampant homosexuality to be a key warning sign for judgment of the world as a whole, and not just of individual nations. I have made this point before, but it bears repeating. I am 53 years old. When I was born homosexuality was illegal throughout the entire world. In the space of just half a century this tiny 1-3% of the population have made themselves a global political power with greater influence in the courtrooms and legislatures of the world than the Church of Jesus Christ. This astonishing transformation surpasses that of Darwinism, Marxism, and even Islam in its speed and breadth of reach. To my thinking, this can only have been accomplished by the god of this world (Satan 2 Cor 4:4) who knows his time is short and is making his move." - Notorious homophobe and pedophile employer Scott Lively.

New York Marriage Poll

The above is a new poll by ABC News/WaPo.

Democrats and Republicans react in opposite ways to the new law, each facing stark internal divisions that may present challenges to building a winning coalition in 2012. Among Democrats, the divide is between the liberal base and those with conservative or moderate stripes. Liberal Democrats view the law positively by an overwhelming 74 to 25 percent margin. A smaller 54 percent majority of moderate and conservative Democrats say the same. Among African Americans, another loyal segment of the Democratic party coalition, more than six in 10 say the law is a negative development, while roughly one in three see it positively. Republicans broadly reject the law by a 2 to 1 margin, but alignment with the tea party movement complicates political calculations concerning the issue. More than seven in 10 Republicans who support the Tea Party movement view the New York law as a negative development.

(Via - Towleroad)

Frothy Mix: I Will Repeal NY Marriage

(Via - Think Progress)

NOM DEMANDS: Let The People (Bused In From Out Of State) Vote On Marriage!

Once again, a huge percentage of the attendees of NOM's hate rally appear to have been bused in from outside New York City. "Let the people vote!" (But they don't LIVE here!) "We SAID, let the people vote!"

(Via - Good As You)

Freep This AFA Poll

Somebody at the AFA screwed up and posted a poll with more than one actual response.

Gays Are The Children Of Satan

"In the case of being gay, or even worse, being born gay, that lie is directly opposite of God's word. Unlike the lie that alcoholism is a disease, this lie of Satan may endure until the second coming because it is part of what precipitates the final judgment over a lawless and reprobate world. In the absence of the magic alcoholic's gene that no one ever found, and the need to curb spending alcoholics were bounced off social security disability benefits all at once years ago. Gays are not drawing benefits for being gay but are yet clamoring for same sex civil unions and gay marriage benefits for their so called spouses. The most damning aspect of Satan's lies about being born gay is that it reveals who the source of the lie is, and at the same time identifies the believers of the lies, as his very own children." - Michael Bresciani of the hate group Renew America.

NOTE: According to Bresciani, gay marriage in New York will hasten the arrival of the anti-Christ! Hurray! Welcome Masssssterrr....

Matt Baume: Marriage News Watch

New York marriage, hate groups, DOMA, and Al Franken.

Quote Of The Day - Mat Staver

"Numerous constitutional and legal violations were committed using strong-arm tactics to pass the Act, thus infringing the rights of the citizens of New York. For example, the Governor pressured Republican Senators to vote for the Act at a private meeting at the Governor’s mansion and with the millions of dollars he had raised from Wall Street financiers. When government operates in secret and freezes out the very people it is supposed to represent, the entire system fails. The back-room tactics were rampant in the passages of this law. The law should be set aside and the process should begin again to allow the people a voice in the process." - Mat Staver of Dead Jerry Falwell's Liberty Counsel, explaining his lawsuit to overturn New York marriage.

Slaggie Gilamonster: The Fight To Repeal NY Marriage Will Be A "Bloody Mess"

NEW YORK: Hate Group Files Suit To Overturn Same-Sex Marriage

Led by Rev. Jason McQuire, today the New Yorkers For Constitutional Freedoms filed suit to overturn same-sex marriage.

McGuire claims that the state Senate, in adopting the legislation, violated the state’s Open Meetings Law by closing off the Senate galleries and lobby; and by holding closed door meetings with Mayor Bloomberg and others who backed the law.The group also claims, among other things, that Gov. Cuomo and the Senate ignored the constitutionally mandated three-day waiting period before a bill can be acted upon and that lawmakers approved the legislation in exchange for campaign contributions from Bloomberg and other high profile "Wall Street financiers."

"It is unfortunate that state senators chose to protect their personal interests, rather than the people they were elected to represent. Some of the players may have changed, but it looks like same old Albany game. It is time the curtain be pulled back and the disinfecting light of good government shine upon the Cuomo Administration and our State Legislature," McGuire said in a press release.

A spokesman for Gov. Cuomo's office denounced the suit as "without merit."

UPDATE: The above-linked story fails to note that the lawsuit was actually filed by Dead Jerry Falwell's Liberty Counsel. On behalf of the haters above.

HomoQuotable - Larry Kramer

"These marriages, in whichever state, are what I call feel-good marriages. Compared to the benefits heterosexual marriages convey, gay marriages are an embarrassment — that we should accept so little, and with so much hoopla of excitement and self-congratulation." - Playwright and professional nudge Larry Kramer, commenting on New York marriage.

Straight Folks Got Married Today Too

VIDEO: Gay Couples Wed In NYC

The Statute Of Liberty

First Couple Married In Niagara Falls

With the magnificent Niagara Falls as a backdrop, early this morning two lesbian activists became the first same-sex couple to legally marry in New York.

Against a cascade of rainbow-colored falls, and with cicadas humming in the background, Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd married at the first possible moment in Niagara Falls. After a bell tolled 12 times to ring in the new day, Ms. Lambert, 54, and Ms. Rudd, 53, held hands and kissed in front of more than 100 friends and family members.

Congratulations, New York!

LGBT history will be made today on the first day of legalized same-sex marriage in New York. Congratulations to all that worked so tirelessly to make today possible! Here's a short celebratory clip from JMG reader Sean Chapin.

Perry: Marriage Is A States Rights Issue

Yesterday Texas Gov. Rick Perry said that he considered same-sex marriage to be a states' right issue and that he has no problem with New York's move to legalize it.

Perry, who has been weighing a presidential run, said he opposes gay marriage — but that he's also a firm believer of the 10th Amendment. "Our friends in New York six weeks ago passed a statute that said marriage can be between two people of the same sex. And you know what? That's New York, and that's their business, and that's fine with me," he said to applause from several hundred GOP donors in Aspen, Colo. "That is their call. If you believe in the 10th Amendment, stay out of their business."

Perry is expected to formally announce his presidential run by summer's end.