New York City Lottery For Sunday Gay Marriage Expands To Include All

FInally, a lottery where everyone's a winner!

Last week, in order to meet the high demand of gay couples who want to tie the knot this Sunday--when New York's Marriage Equality Act goes into effect--New York City announced it would have to hold a lottery. Couples had until noon yesterday to register for one of the 764 available spots.

Yesterday afternoon, however, Marc LaVorgna, deputy press secretary to Mayor Bloomberg, announced 823 couples had registered-- and seeing as how that's only 59 more spots than the city originally offered up, officials decided to scramble and accomodate, CBS News reports. This Sunday, July 24th, 823 couples will get married in the Big Apple.

"Everybody wins!" said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, according to The New York Daily News. "This Sunday, all New Yorkers will be winners when we make history and move human rights forward in all five boroughs."

Every lottery applicant who selected a borough outside of Manhattan received a slot in the location they requested, Metropolis reports. In Manhattan, there were 133 more requests than slots available. And so to meet the demand, the city increased the number of available slots in Manhattan by 59. As for the 74 other couples who requested a Manhattan marriage but didn't get a slot, the city said it will make Sunday time available in one of the other four boroughs.

Also, as Daily Intel points out, couples registering for the lottery didn't have to disclose their genders, so there's no data on how many of the couples are actually straight, but gay marriage means equal treatment under the law, as Dan Amira notes, not preferential treatment.

Comments

[Guest2011]

02:32 AM on 07/26/2011

What if all New Yorkers read "Homosexua­lity is Not a Civil Right" ( http://www­.crrange.c­om/wall34.­html ) by Robert Regier and Daniel Garcia? And agreed with them?

The online article "Is Cuomo Ignoring the Evidence Against Gay Marriage?" ( http://www­.scribd.co­m/doc/5488­1192/Is-Cu­omo-Ignori­ng-the-Evi­dence-Agai­nst-Gay-Ma­rriage-Upd­ated ) illustrate­s 27 INITIAL reasons ... 17 explicitly stated ... why America and New Yorkers will still reject "gay marriage" in 2011 and onwards!

It is evidence-b­ased!

One ALSO senses that the awareness of the scale of the tragedy is ... multiplying ... as New Yorkers found out how the "Atrocity in Albany" was engineered. See the Gotham Gazette at ( http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/25/why-sen-kevin-parker-got-mad/ ).

If this story is true, wholesale thuggery was used to engineer that vote!

[Ldyandrea]

08:49 PM on 07/24/2011

Okay, I'm a straight woman, and watching video of the first gay wedding in Brooklyn made me cry tears of happiness for that couple. How anyone can take offense at thousands of people finding such happiness is beyond me.

Obviously, their shoes are too tight, or their hearts too small, a la The Grinch.

Plus, let's watch as the ecnonomy in New York State takes a nice positive bounce because of all of the Big Gay Weddings! :)

[paid troll]

04:12 PM on 07/24/2011

i hope all the newlyweds have long happy healthy lives together!

[JLeamer]

03:48 PM on 07/24/2011

I don't wish to put a damper on today's celebrations, just a realistic approach...

I share these couple's joys...I am one of California's "Lucky 18,000" who got married during the period same-sex marriage was made legal and before the ballot measure (Prop 8) TOOK AWAY that right for anyone who had NOT married but wanted to; fortunately our attorney general declared that the 18,000 could NOT be anulled or revoked, (even tho Karl Rove tried to do just that during the court trial that found the Prop 8 ballot gay marriage ban UNCONSTITUTIONAl) Even though Prop 8 was found and declared unconstitutional, that ruling HAS NOT BEEN IMPLEMENTED! It is 'stayed' (not applied as law) pending appeal (and it is STALLED in the appeals court ) California's same sex couples who WANT to marry CANNOT, even though a court found Prop 8 (the ballot measure that TOOK AWAY the right for gays to marry) UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
I urge any gay couple in the entire state of New York, if you want to marry, if you want to be one of New York's "Lucky" couples, DO IT NOW...IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU TOO!

[jcarterla]

01:28 PM on 07/24/2011

Now if they would just have scratchers that I could win a husband on.

[phantom65]

01:43 PM on 07/24/2011

LOL.

[phantom65]

01:15 PM on 07/24/2011

Sending congratulations and best wishes from the Heartland to all the beautiful couples tying the knot today. I hope in the near future that equal rights will extend across this country. Love cannot be denied.

[sski74]

01:00 PM on 07/24/2011

If you don't like or agree with gay marriage, then my suggestion, don't marry a gay person. Love is love!

[Clarabell]

04:14 PM on 07/24/2011

That's very good advice :-)).

[Matt Chernesky]

12:19 PM on 07/24/2011

This Ohioan wishes all the new New York marriages to filled with love and happiness. Hopefully one day soon we'll all be able to experience marriage in all of our home states. Xx

[jozie]

12:05 PM on 07/24/2011

I love the way the Mayor and the city people have embraced this. They are setting the example in a very good way!

[NikitaAhn]

03:10 AM on 07/24/2011

1.) All this "gays can't have kids, therefore their union is wrong!" nonsense needs to stop. First of all, gay people CAN have kids. We're gay, not asexual. Some have kids from previous marriages, use surrogates/sperm donors, or adopt. In fact MANY adopt, which is a wonderful thing Even if they choose NOT to have kids, it has nothing to do with the love/commitment they share, or their right to be recognized by the state. The inability of a gay couple to reproduce through "traditional" methods doesn't "prove" that nature/god doesn't intend for people to be gay. By that argument nature/god doesn't want women to live past the age of menopause. Silly.

2.) Don't start with the "slippery slope" nonsense. Slippery slope is a logical fallacy. You can turn ANYTHING into a slippery slope argument. Allow me to demonstrate: "Well, it's legal for you to eat steak, which is a red meat, which means that pretty soon it'll be legal for you to eat ALL meats, including PEOPLE, so if you let people eat steak soon they'll be terrifying, murdering cannibals!" or "You can't let women vote! If you do, pretty soon we'll have to let KIDS vote! And then before you know it, dogs and cats will be voting! And we all know how liberal house pets are!" See how ridiculous that sounds? It sounds just as ridiculous when you say marriage equality will lead to people marrying their rice cookers and whatnot.

[Matt Chernesky]

12:12 PM on 07/24/2011

Fanned and faved!

[sski74]

12:57 PM on 07/24/2011

BRILLIANT!

[CeCe Moore]

07:48 PM on 07/23/2011

It is informative to read the comments here and to see which side of this argument is the educated one. There are so many spelling, grammatical and reasoning errors throughout this section that it is laughable. There is really a significant difference - read through the comments if you don't know what I mean. Perhaps "they" should concentrate on getting an education and leave those who seem to be doing quite well for themselves to live their lives in peace.

[Guest2011]

01:34 PM on 07/23/2011

Cuomo and Bloomberg threw a party ... and no-one came ... so the spin is ... everyone wins!

What if America and new York decided not to attend this party, or to tune in?

What if New York, freed from the double-mindedness of Alesi, Grisanti and Saland, decided to vote their disgust ... with their feet and their remote controls!

What if America said to itself ... why are we supporting THIS again?

What if ... America ... reassessed the evidence?

What if all New Yorkers read "Homosexuality is Not a Civil Right" ( http://www.crrange.com/wall34.html )by Robert Regier and Daniel Garcia? And agreed with them?

The online article "Is Cuomo Ignoring the Evidence Against Gay Marriage?" ( http://www.scribd.com/doc/54881192/Is-Cuomo-Ignoring-the-Evidence-Against-Gay-Marriage-Updated ) illustrates 27 INITIAL reasons ... 17 explicitly stated ... why America and New Yorkers will still reject "gay marriage" in 2011 and onwards!

It is evidence-based!

[Matt Chernesky]

12:15 PM on 07/24/2011

Views against gay marriage will deteriorate and crumble just the same as views as interracial marriages did. Those who oppose gay marriage are on the wrong side of history.

[Dr. Jonathan David Farley]

03:03 PM on 07/24/2011

Last time I checked, some 0.5% of marriages in America were between blacks and whites.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18090277/ns/us_news-life/t/after-years-interracial-marriage-flourishing/

So much for views changing.

[sski74]

12:59 PM on 07/24/2011

H@te is based on fear. What are you afraid of?

[joemondo]

10:39 AM on 07/23/2011

Congratulations, NY.

Some bedwetters in a panic seem to have very little faith in the appeal of heterosexuality, if they think gays marrying will be the end of it.

[Alec Radecki]

02:52 AM on 07/23/2011

It's great to hear that 59 unlucky couples won't be left waiting for their big day! Congrats to all 823 lucky couples!

[ApolloniaBliss]

11:33 PM on 07/22/2011

opps my bag, i meant to say when a man and woman have sex when he enters they become one person....

[Alec Radecki]

02:50 AM on 07/23/2011

this doesn't even begin to make sense

[Ioan Lightoller]

10:01 AM on 07/23/2011

You're an idiot, All sex can be unitive. Sorry you're so behind the curve.