among sexual minorities

A law allowing the registration of same-sex marriages has come into force in the state. 659 couples got married in one day. However, American opponents of sexual minorities promise to abolish all marriages. Details - in the report of Kommersant FM correspondent Alena Kuznetsova.

Immediately after the law legalizing gay marriage came into force on Sunday, hundreds of same-sex couples went to get married. The authorities could not cope with the influx of applicants, so a lottery was organized. The right to get married on the first day of the law was up for grabs. More than 800 couples applied. The first to register the marriage were 77-year-old Phyllis Siegle and 85-year-old Connie Kopelov. One of the women came to the wedding in a wheelchair. “We didn’t even hope to live to see this moment,” Phyllis Siegle shares her impressions.

“It took my breath away,” admitted the bridegroom. “It’s mind-blowing - the fact that this happened to us, that our relationship is finally officially registered, like everyone else.”

The legalization of such unions only strengthened the position of opponents of gay marriage. Along with the weddings, protests took place across the state. Thousands of people took part in them. The demonstrators said they would try to get the marriages annulled.

“Next week we will try to prove to them that everything they did that day was illegal,” the demonstrator warned.

New York has become the sixth and largest US state to allow sexual minorities to formalize their relationships. The bill passed the state Senate a month ago.

At the moment, same-sex marriage has already been legalized in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland and Argentina. And also in some US states and Mexico City.

New Yorkers are outraged by legal marriages