by 365Gay.com March 3, 2004

New York City.-- Nyack, New York Mayor John Shields announced Wednesday that he will begin officiating at the marriages of same-sex couples.  

Shields, who is gay, said he would start the process as soon as this week.  

The suburban New York mayor made the announcement as Jason West, the mayor of New Paltz, New York was preparing to go to court to face 19 charges for marrying same-sex couples in his village.

Shields said he made his decision because same-sex marriage is an issue of basic civil rights protected under the New York State constitution.

The mayor said that he planned to join other gay New Yorkers in visiting municipal clerks' offices Friday seeking marriage licenses. Shields said he and his partner will seek their own marriage license. 

Last week, following the first gay weddings in New Paltz, Shields said his community would recognize any same-sex marriage wherever it was performed.

"I don't understand how extending marriage to same-gender couples undermines traditional marriage or weakens community," Shields said at the time. "On the contrary, I believe personal commitments strengthen community. A powerful way to affirm traditional marriage is to have strong marriages between committed people."

Thursday thousands are expected to demonstrate at an early morning protest at city hall.  On the weekend, a group of city politicians called on Bloomberg to "do the right thing".

But, like West, Shields faces charges if he performs gay weddings.  New York state Attorney General Elliot Spitzer announced Wednesday that a review of state law has led him to conclude it is illegal to marry same-sex couples.

"I personally would like to see the law changed, but must respect the law as it now stands," Spitzer said in a statement.

But Spitzer also said that same-sex marriages in jurisdictions, such as Canada where they are legal, must be recognized in New York.

While critical of Spitzer's admonition in conduction weddings in New York, Lambda Legal praised the Attorney General for acknowledging those marriages conducted in other jurisdictions. 

"This is a tremendous breakthrough for lesbian and gay couples and their families," said David Buckel, Marriage Project Director at Lambda Legal. "The bottom line is that same-sex couples all over New York are married, and the state's top legal authority has made it clear that their marriages are no different than anyone else's."

Buckel said Lambda will take any local New York government to court if it fails to recognize the marriages.