The Gist

New York Readying for California Weddings

I've talked about this on the show for the past two weeks -- the story that hasn't gotten much attention until now but which will have huge impact. New York State's highest court, last month, basically ok'd any marriages of gays and lesbians from out of state: A lower court ruled that all such marriages must be recognized by the state, and the highest court -- which had previously ruled that the state constitution does not give gays and lesbians in New York the right to marry and that they must go to the legislature to get marriage legalized -- did not take the case, upholding the lower court ruling. Gays and lesbians could thus go out of state to marry -- and those marriages would be viewed legal in New York -- even though they couldn't actually marry in New York.

This, I noted, means that both New York and California now recognize marriage for gays and lesbians on some level, and by population alone this is a massive swath of the country -- and of the globe: It includes more people than any entire naton, from Canada to Spain, that has legalized marriage for gays and lesbians. While Massachusetts doesn't let out of state residents who are gay marry there (unless their state recognizes marriage for gays), Canada does, and those marriages, as noted, are recognized in New York as are the California marriages. But even though Canada is right across the border and many New York couples have had their Niagara Falls weddings, it's still another country and and not one with which there is a tight cultural bond, particularly between cities where large LGBT communities live.

The cultural connection, however, between New York and California -- between New York City and Los Angeles and between New York City and San Francisco -- and particularly between their LGBT communities, is powerful and historic. There will be thousands upon thousands of New Yorkers heading to California to marry, and that's why our new very pro-gay governor is gearing up for recognizing those marriages, and then using that to push for full marriage rights in New York, having the state actually marrying gays and lesbians. That seems to be only a matter of time. And as New York and California go, so, eventually, will go the rest of the country.