Islip Town Clerk Readies For Same-Sex Marriages

This past Monday, just two days after New York State legalized same-sex marriage, the phones in the Islip Town Clerk’s office started ringing early.

“We got about a dozen phone calls that morning,” said Regina Duffy, the town clerk. “I’m predicting that over the next couple weeks we may get as many as 200 marriage applications (from gays).”

The calls into Duffy’s office have been largely focused on what documentation is needed by perspective couples to obtain a marriage license.

“The questions we have received (from gay couples) are really no different than the calls we have received in that past from (opposite sex) couples,” she noted.

While the thought of being able to have a legally recognized marriage is still sinking in among men and women in the gay community, town clerks, such as Duffy, across New York will be on the front lines handling this historic change.

Although the state has yet to provide any guidance to Duffy and clerks in the other 931 townships across the Empire State, she is already preparing for an influx of same-sex couples once the law becomes official on July 24.

“The state issues the forms for marriage certificates, which currently say bride and groom,” she said. “If we don’t get new forms (by July 24), we are planning to use the forms we have with the older person in the relationship as the groom and the younger as the bride. Once a form is completed, a couple is required to wait 24 hours before they can marry.”

Duffy also anticipates the number of weddings performed at Town Hall to grow since many religious institutions will not perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.

“Right now we do weddings on Friday and average about 15 a week during the summer,” she said. “There are four people in my office, plus me, that are able to perform weddings, so we should have enough people to meet any spike in demand.”

And with any government issued license comes fees. A marriage license is $40, with $22.50 of that cost going to Albany. There is no charge for a wedding ceremony performed at Town Hall, but there is a $75 charge for those seeking use of a town official or person certified by Islip Town to perform weddings at another location.