Saturday, July 23, 2011

Congratulations - Kitty and Cheryle

Morgan Walker - Buffalo News
From the Buffalo, New York News:
NIAGARA FALLS — New York State ushered in same-sex marriage at 12:01 a.m. with the wedding of a Buffalo couple, punctuating the end of a long fight for gay-rights activists.

Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd were wed in Niagara Falls just after midnight.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you legally married," said Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, who performed the ceremony.

After exchanging rings and sending out wishes to states that don't recognize same-sex marriage, the couple danced in the grass near the falls.
The article goes on to describe an important part of why their marriage is so important to Kitty and Cheryle:
The fight was difficult for Lambert and Rudd, who have been together for 12 years. Rudd has battled cervical and thyroid cancer, and Lambert has suffered three heart attacks. Each time one was in the hospital, the other struggled through red tape that failed to recognize their relationship.

"By law, because I had my last heart attack in Arizona, if I had died, they wouldn’t have notified her, they couldn’t have notified her," Lambert said. "And those are critical issues, those are critical things that people have to consider."

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