Marriage equality rally

In July 2003, Brendan Fay and Dr. Thomas Moulton rode 16 hours on a bus to Ontario, Canada to marry.
&#8220I remember the day. It was July 27,” Moulton said, resting his arm on Fay's shoulder, while speaking during the marriage equality rally in Jackson Heights last week.
Fay recalled that they waited in line after crossing the border to be married with hundreds of gay couples, who had also traveled outside of the United States to wed. One month earlier, the Court of Appeals for Ontario ruled that a ground-breaking 2001 same-sex marriage was legal. In June 2005, the Canadian Parliament enacted a law allowing legal marriage for same-sex couples.
&#8220We were in line to be treated equally,” Fay said from the pulpit of the Jackson Heights Jewish Center last week. &#8220All of a sudden equality was open to us.”
Three years after Judge Harvey Brownstone sanctified their union, their marriage remains unrecognized by the State of New York and to both Fay and Moulton, and this is unacceptable.
&#8220Let's send a message: Get out and vote,” Moulton told the crowd of 200, who rallied in support of equal marriage rights for all New Yorkers. Moulton said that once opponents of legalized gay marriages were ousted from their political seats, those that were undecided would quickly make up their minds.
At the rally, local politicians, including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Assemblymembers Jose Peralta, Jeffrion Aubry, and Ivan Lafayette, Councilmember Helen Sears, and State Senator John Sabini, all professed their support for legislation that would force City and State governments to recognize unions like that of Fay and Moulton.
&#8220Every time that someone comes out - particularly when it is in one of the outer boroughs - it is a powerful statement,” Quinn said, explaining that opponents have characterized her district - Greenwich Village - as the only area with a large gay population.
However, the politicians said they cannot foresee a bill that will recognize gay marriages performed in Canada and Massachusetts anytime in the near future.
&#8220We know that we will eventually get full equality in the State of New York,” said Quinn, the first openly gay Speaker of the City Council.
In response to whether a bill would be introduced in the Council supporting gay marriage, Quinn said that she did not plan to do so until she was sure that it would pass.
Nevertheless, several religious leaders, who also spoke during the rally, said that every avenue should be tried and retried, no matter if the first outcome is failure.
&#8220We must stop being afraid,” said Rev. Pat Bumgardner of the Metropolitan Community Church, calling for local politicians to work harder to pass gay rights legislation.
And the politicians fired back that they were working as hard and fast as possible to achieve that goal.
&#8220I wish we were legally married. I wish that we didn't have to go to another country to [get married],” Antoniou said.