A catalyst for gay marriage campaign
BY SUMATHI REDDY
ALBANY BUREAU

March 3, 2004, 9:31 PM EST

NEW PALTZ -- He strolled into the one-door courthouse of this Hudson Valley village as if down a red carpet, trumpets blaring, placards waving.

"Free West," a sign bobbed over a crowd of more than 400 assembled here Wednesday night to urge on Mayor Jason West and the burgeoning New York gay marriage campaign that began here a week ago when the maverick mayor officiated at 25 same-sex ceremonies. Even as the state's top law enforcer Wednesday tried to dissuade officials from following the young mayor's lead, the movement was only emboldened, emanating from this tiny village to New York City, Ithaca and beyond. "This is the largest flowering of a civil rights movement that this country has seen in a generation," West, 26, said after pleading not guilty to 19 misdemeanor counts of violating state law for performing same-sex weddings without marriage licenses.

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Democrats offer gay marriage ban

By JIM GALLOWAY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/03/04
House Democrats said they intend to introduce today a new, "cleaner" version of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages.
Republicans denounced the move as a maneuver to subvert a statewide referendum on the issue, and predicted they would withhold their support.