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The first gay couple to be unofficially married in New Paltz, Billiam vanRoestenberg and Jeffrey McGowan, are splitting up after two years of marriage. VanRoestenberg told midhudsonnews.com of the split and that he is “very distraught” over it. McGowan is said to have been the partner that sought the separation. According to midhudsonnews.com, the New York State courts have ruled that marriage, as defined by the state Constitution, is a union between a man and a woman. No court decision invalidated any of the solemnizations between the same-sex couples in New Paltz. Almost exactly two years ago, on Feb. 27,...

ALBANY, N.Y. — A prosecutor dropped all charges Tuesday against a small town mayor who could have faced up to a year in jail for marrying gay couples on the steps of the village hall. New Paltz Mayor Jason West (search), then 26, was among the first public officials in the nation to marry same-sex couples, following San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (search) in February 2004. He had been charged with 24 misdemeanor counts of violating the state's domestic relations law after marrying about two dozen gay couples in ceremonies that drew national attention to the village of about 13,000...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The village mayor who challenged New York law by attempting to marry gay couples will face trial, the state's highest court ruled Friday. New Paltz Village Mayor Jason West faces 24 misdemeanor counts of violating the state's domestic relations law by marrying couples without marriage licenses last year. West's defiance of a law that state officials say forbids gay marriage made the little Hudson Valley village a flashpoint in the national gay marriage debate. The state Court of Appeals on Friday refused West's request to hear the case first, avoiding the usual process of hearing cases in...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The village mayor who challenged New York law by attempting to marry gay couples will face trial, the state's highest court ruled Friday. New Paltz Mayor Jason West faces 24 misdemeanor counts of violating the state's domestic relations law by marrying couples without marriage licenses last year. West's gesture, which state officials say defied state law, came amid a flurry of efforts in various states to enact gay weddings after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom allowed gay couples there to wed in February 2004. Those efforts have largely been put on hold by the courts. The...

A judge in New York state reinstated criminal charges against New Paltz Mayor Jason West for solemnizing same-sex "marriages." Mayor Jason West (Photo: Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y.) Shortly after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom defied California law to become the first official in the country to authorize marriage licenses for same-sex couples, West presided over about two dozen ceremonies in the small New York town last February. West, 27, was assessed 24 misdemeanor counts, but a town court judge dropped the charges, citing constitutional problems in banning same-sex marriages.

The man who sparked national controversy by permitting same-sex marriages in San Francisco has been named the "Person of the Year" by Planet Out magazine, a publication geared toward homosexuals. Mayor Gavin Newsom topped the likes of Teresa Heinz Kerry and singer Melissa Etheridge on the 2004 list. The magazine says its awards recognize the people who most profoundly impacted the lives of lesbian, "gay," bisexual and transgender people. Editors say Newsom changed history, changed lives and changed the national debate about marriage equality, making him their obvious choice: The 36-year-old's decision to let City Hall issue marriage licenses to...

May 17 was, in the words of Ron Crews of the Massachusetts Family Institute, “a day of mourning.” For on that day, Massachusetts officials began marrying man to man, and woman to woman. Those who brought about this state of affairs claim to believe in “equality” and to be “democrats,” but in fact are elites who will have nothing of equality, let alone democracy. Five elite groups brought about same-sex marriage, which is however not an unalterable condition: Activist judges, the establishment media, ultraliberal elected officials, gay activist organizations and the homosexual activist, “shadow government.” In the Supreme Court’s June...

A town justice Thursday dismissed a criminal prosecution against the mayor of New Paltz, N.Y., who married gay couples without marriage licenses, saying a state law banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The ruling from New Paltz Town Justice Jonathan D. Katz marked the first time a New York court has found that the marriage law violates the rights of gay couples. The judge's opinion does not, however, have the effect of invalidating the statute or giving gay couples an immediate opportunity to wed. "I am familiar with the arguments raised in the cases from other states addressing this issue and...

The New York Times is not pleased with New York City Mayor Michael ("Mayor Mike") Bloomberg. In a March 11 house editorial, "Mayor Bloomberg's Commitment Issue," the newspaper in so many words demanded that Bloomberg embrace same-sex marriage, and begin personally officiating at same-sex weddings in the mayoral residence of Grace Mansion, forthwith. Or else. "He doesn't officiate at weddings at Gracie Mansion, a previously time-honored tradition for mayors of New York. And it seems that he has a problem committing on the issue of gay marriage. "In the month or so since performing same-sex marriages became a point of...

It might be somewhat risky to confess this to conservative website readers, but I am not the biggest fan of Roy Moore. Moore, you may recall, was bounced from his elected position as chief justice of the Alabama supreme court for refusing to take down his display of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the judiciary building despite a federal court order to do so. He argued that his compliance would require him to acquiesce to an unlawful ruling and violate his obligation to acknowledge God as the source of our liberty.While I thought there was more merit to...

The mainstream media have two complementary tactics in covering homosexual-related news: Flooding the zone with stories portraying gays as victims or heroes, and damming up the flow of information, when it would present gays in a less than favorable light. And sometimes both tactics are used within the same story.Consider coverage of the illegal same-sex “weddings” in San Francisco and New Paltz, New York. Several stories on the New Paltz “weddings” mentioned Tom Duane, an openly gay New York State Senator, who represents the Chelsea section of Manhattan.On March 2, Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams charged New Paltz Mayor...

As everyone knows, gay activists and their supporters are tolerant, compassionate, sensitive people. Apparently some of them thought I forgot that, and so they responded to my column, “Mainstream Media Queers Marriage,” with some reminders. I’ll follow each letter with a brief response.First, a gentleman from Atlanta.FYI,Bush did lie.  In the 2000 Presidential race, Bush and Cheney both said that same sex marriage should be left to the states.  Now that Mass. has decided to do the right thing and grant civil marriage, he's changed his tune.  So, Rosie was correct in saying the Bush lied.In addition, I would like...

The mayor of a small New York town who defiantly presided over same-sex weddings last week faces charges that could land him in jail for up to a year. Mayor Jason West Jason West, the 26-year-old mayor of New Paltz, was ordered this afternoon to appear in court Wednesday to answer for 19 violations of the state's domestic-relations law, New York Newsday reported. Last Friday, West solemnized 25 same-sex marriages and put another 500 names on a waiting list. West had planned to hold more ceremonies this weekend. But he now faces a possible fine of up to $500 along...

Since Watergate, establishment American journalists have taken as their first commandment, Marx’ eleventh and last thesis on Feuerbach: “Philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways, but the point is to change it.”Marx was calling for revolutionary action. Today’s pampered, pc journalists engage instead in radical misrepresentation, act as mouthpieces for their revolutionary allies, and silence their opponents. And so it is, with radical homosexuals’ attempt to destroy, or as they would say, “transform,” civilization through its most fundamental institution, marriage. And the mainstream media have signed on to the program.On Thursday, February 26, WNBC-TV’s 11 p.m. news devoted...

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) -- The mayor of the town of New Paltz has been charged with 19 criminal counts for marrying same-sex couples. New Paltz Mayor Jason West said last Thursday it was his moral duty to marry homosexual couples. He issued marriage certificates to 25 gay couples. On Tuesday, Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams lodged 19 counts of ``solemnizing a marriage without a license'' against West.

New Paltz, New York-AP) Feb. 28, 2004 - First San Francisco, now New Paltz. It didn't take long for the word to spread about the gay marriages that were being performed in the New York village that sits along the State Thruway about 75 miles north of New York City. More than 500 couples are now on a waiting list for Mayor Jason West to marry them. He officiated over 25 such marriages Friday and vows to continue them. West insists he broke no law. He says he obeyed the state constitution, and his oath of office. That issue, however,...

<p>More than 350 same-sex couples have signed up on a waiting list to be married in this village that has joined San Francisco in offering the ceremonies.</p> <p>Mayor Jason West married 25 couples Friday and vowed to continue.</p> <p>"Absolutely, I'll be doing this again," he said Friday before a cheering outdoor crowd. "I broke no law. I abided by the constitution of New York state and my oath of office."</p>