same-sex marriages inconvenience heterosexual newlyweds

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Good.

Gay weddings inconvenience heterosexual newlyweds
By Jesse J. Smith, Freeman staff
12/16/2004

NEW PALTZ - Heterosexual newlyweds have been caught in the fallout over the same-sex weddings that took place here earlier this year: The federal government is not recognizing any marriage certificates issued in New Paltz as a valid form of identification for those seeking a name change from the Social Security Administration.

New Paltz resident Susie Kilpatrick Wilkening found out about the policy on Dec. 3, when she went to the Social Security office in Kingston, seeking to change her name to reflect her recent marriage to Jeremy Wilkening.

"I presented my marriage certificate, and I was told that it was not an acceptable form of ID because it was from New Paltz," said Kilpatrick-Wilkening, who works for the Huguenot Historical Society in New Paltz. "If the federal government cannot accept my marriage certificate, I can't prove I'm married, and that could have long-term ramifications. I want to clear this up as soon as possible."

Social Security spokeswoman Jane Zanca said the policy had been in effect since Feb. 27, when village of New Paltz Mayor Jason West married 25 same-sex couples in a ceremony that drew national media attention.

The couples were unlicensed - because no municipal clerk in New York has been willing to authorize a same-sex marriage - so the village and a group called New Paltz Equality Initiative gave marriage affidavits, which hold no legal weight, to the couples married by West and those married by ministers.

"The state has said that it does not consider (any marriage certificates issued in New Paltz) legal documents, so we are waiting until all of the legal issues on the state level are resolved," Zanca said.

Zanca said that the policy originated with the state, but officials at the state Department of Health, which oversees marriages in New York, said no such policy had been requested of the Social Security Administration.

Officials at the New York Department of State, which maintains all state records, also said they had nothing to do with the Social Security policy. Officials at the Social Security Administration's Washington, D.C., office did not return a reporter's calls.

Town of New Paltz Clerk Marian Cappillino said she was puzzled by the policy because the town never issued a marriage license or certificate to a same-sex couple. Instead, the same-sex couples married in New Paltz received notarized affidavits as proof of marriage.

"Everybody knows that I only issue marriage certificates to heterosexual couples who have gotten a marriage license from me," Cappillino said, adding that she never was informed of the federal policy. "I've been issuing marriage certificates for years, so I don't understand why now the Social Security Administration will not accept them."

Zanca said that policy regarding New Paltz-issued marriage licenses has no impact on the validity of a marriage or the ability of couples to receive benefits if they are entitled to them. The policy deals strictly with the validity of the document as a proof of identification for name change requests. Zanca said the agency will accept other documents - including driver's licenses, employee and student ID cards and insurance cards - as proof of identification.