Couple moves forward on annulment quest

We hope you've read about the straight couple who are seeking to annul their marriage if same-sex couples can't get married, on the grounds that marriage is unconstitutionally discriminatory. Deirdre wrote a great piece about it in this week's issue.

In the wake of yesterday's vote in the New York state senate vote to reject same-sex marriage there, she dropped a note to the couple.

Here's the response she got from Matt:

Never before have I been so ashamed of my state or to be a New Yorker. For me, New York is the only place I feel truly comfortable calling home, and one of the many reasons for that is how progressive, diverse and accepting the people of this great state are towards each other and how our state constitution protects so many more of our rights than nearly any other state. While the failure of the bill to pass wasn't a complete surprise, obviously, or our actions wouldn't have been necessary to begin with, I was surprised with how many Democrats voted against it. Only 24 voted for it, which in my opinion is a disgrace. Our Senator, Ms. Montgommery voted for it, and gave a kind speech in support of it, along with several moving and eloquent speeches in favor of it. As I listened to these Senators speak, like Senator Liz Krueger, explaining their positions with passion, explaining its connection to civil rights, referring to the vote as part of a movement, really gave me a feeling of hope that this bill may very well pass. Especially considering that the voices against really used nothing more than their tired arguments about the historical or "traditional"
definition of marriage being defended, but without really explaining why it needed defending, and without regard for how drastically society has changed in the last several thousand years.

So now, we have our work cut out for us. We're currently in contact with several lawyers who have offered, to various degrees, pro-bono assistance with helping us figure out exactly how to file our annulment in court, especially in matters of jurisdiction, and precisely how to word our request to maximize its effectiveness and avoid any quick defeat on a technicality.

Once we have dedicated legal counsel, we'll proceed as fast as we can to filing our annulment and will be asking the members of our group, which has nearly doubled since 9am today, to join us at the court when and where we file.

It's always the time to be on the right side of history. In the meantime I will be posting links to all the Democratic Senators who voted no, followed by the Republicans that includes their contact information, and a brief bio of their record, encouraging our members to write to them about how they feel. I will also be contacting the heads of the Democratic party in their areas, along with the state, explaining to them how our group feels, how fast we're growing and how we won't stand for the Democratic party being so disloyal to itself and to the people it claims to represent. All the Republicans were once again able to stand together, while the Democrats split, and split big. We have only just begun our fight. And we won't stop until all couples, gay or straight, will be able to marry in New York. As far as we're concerned, our marriage in the eyes of the state died today and won't revive until same-sex marriage is legalized here.