Community Corner

Local Group Cheers Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Bay Shore organization's CEO says passage good for all New Yorkers.

Euphoria and relief coupled with cheers and tears.

That was the reaction of David Kilmnick, chief executive officer of the Long Island GLBT Services Network of Bay Shore, following the state Senate’s approval of the Marriage Equality bill.

“This was an amazing victory for justice for all New York families,” he said. “It’s history. This is the night that made New York a better state and will lead our country to being a better country.”

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The GLBT Services Network will have a “Celebration of Marriage Equality” this Monday, 6:30 p.m., at its headquarters on 34 Park Ave. in Bay Shore.

From a legal standpoint, the legalization of same-sex marriage gives gay and lesbian couples access to 1,324 rights and benefits afforded to married couples, according to Kilmnick. This includes access to family health insurance, adoption rights, property inheritance and numerous other benefits that had been open to only married couples of the opposite sex.

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The key to getting this legislation passed this year, after several years of set backs for the gay community, was a coming together of various groups statewide representing heterosexuals and a variety of ethnic groups, Kilmnick said.

“Some 60 percent of residents across New York are for same-sex marriage,” he noted. “This was a victory that was hard fought and won by all New Yorkers. It really moves us to the front of the bus.”

And Kilmnick is hopeful that, over time, people will look at two people of the same sex having dinner, and not wonder if they are gay, but wonder if they are married.

“We know discrimination and bias won’t just go away because this legislation passed,” he said. “It something that we will have to keep fighting against. But it may serve to mold and change how society views same-sex couples.“


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