View full sizeVolney Town Clerk Barb MacEwan, pictured in her office in the Town of Volney building, believes same-sex marriage is morally wrong and doesn't want to sign her name on marriage licenses for same-sex couples.By Glenn Coin and Teri Weaver
The Post-Standard
The Ithaca Town Clerk’s office might be open for business July 24 — the first Sunday the clerk can remember the office opening its doors.
That’s the day New York’s same-sex marriage law goes into effect, and the day that same-sex couples can for the first time apply for marriage licenses in this state.
“If I had enough interest I believe I would open,” said Ithaca Town Clerk Paulette Terwilliger. “It’s special, and same-sex couples have been waiting for a long, long time for this.”
As the whirlwind around the passage of the state’s historic same-sex marriage law late Friday calmed, Central New York government officials and religious leaders began to assess how they’ll deal with the new law.
The local Roman Catholic Church bishop said he would take “appropriate action” against priests who performed same-sex marriages, while the local Episcopal Church bishop gave permission to his priests to perform the ceremonies.
City and town clerks, who by state law issue marriage licenses, said they were awaiting guidance from the state and planning for, in some cases, a rush of applicants.
Friday, New York became the sixth and largest state to allow same-sex marriages. The law takes effect 30 days after passage, which will be July 24.
In New York, marriages can be performed by members of the clergy, mayors and county executives, judges, and marriage officers, who are designated by villages, towns or cities.
Religious faiths were clarifying their positions Monday, too.
Priests who participate in a same-sex wedding would go against the teaching of the church, said Bishop Robert Cunningham, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse.
“We would have to take appropriate action at that time,” he said.
By contrast, Bishop Skip Adams, who leads the Central New York Episcopal diocese, sent a letter Monday freeing priests to perform the ceremonies.
“They are free to use their own discretion in their pastoral responsibilities in their own parishes,” Adams said.
The decision does not require any Episcopal priest in the diocese — an area that includes nearly 100 churches from the St. Lawrence River, south to the Pennsylvania border, east to Rome and west almost to Geneva — to perform same-sex marriages.
Town and city clerks, too, are preparing for July 24. The clerk of Pittsfield, Mass., said her counterparts in New York should prepare for a flood of license applications.
“Not only did we see a bump from our own residents, but same-sex couples from surrounding states came to Massachusetts to get married,” said Linda Tyler, clerk of Pittsfield, about 40 miles east of Albany. “We saw people from as far away as Buffalo, and we’ve seen people from Ohio.”
Clerks are waiting for the state Department of Health, which oversees marriage licenses, for guidance — and for a new application form. The current form contains a column each for “bride” and “groom.” In Connecticut, which authorized same-sex marriage in 2008, the forms read: “Bride or Same Sex Spouse” and “Groom or Same Sex Spouse.”
It remains to be seen if July 24 will bring a flood of marriage ceremonies.
Couples must wait at least 24 hours — to the minute — from the application until the wedding. A state Supreme Court or County Court judge can waive that waiting period. Syracuse City Clerk John Copanas said those waivers have been highly unusual. They are done to speed up weddings for service members deploying overseas, he said, but not typically for everyday weddings. Copanas said he would consider opening his office July 24.
Not all same-sex partners will find clerk’s offices as welcoming as those in Syracuse and Ithaca. Barbara MacEwen, town clerk of Volney, in Oswego County, said she believes same-sex marriage is morally wrong and doesn’t want her name on a marriage license. Under law, town or city clerks must sign marriage licenses; MacEwen would like the state to allow the licenses to be signed by a deputy clerk.
“I’m not objecting to having it done here in the office, but I’m objecting to being forced to sign my name to something that is against my morals and my God,” said MacEwen, who has been town clerk for 18 years. “I don’t want to have to leave my position, and I still feel strongly about not wanting to sign, but I’m not sure if there’s another way around it.”
Other clerks say they'll issue the licenses regardless of their personal beliefs.
"If the law says I issue them, then I issue them," said Debra Allen, clerk of the Oswego County town of New Haven and the regional director of the state clerks association. "The law does not allow us to pick and choose who we're going to issue licenses to."
Local judges, too, said they will perform same-sex wedding ceremonies.
“As a judge it’s my duty to uphold the law,” said Onondaga County Court Judge William Walsh, who is Catholic. “I take an oath as a judge. If I can’t uphold the law, then it’s time to step down.”
Staff writer Jim O'Hara contributed to this report. Contact Glenn Coin at gcoin@syracuse.com or 470-3251.