Viral Photo Of The Day

I have seen the following picture on nearly a dozen sites in the last hour.  Yahoo, Mashable and even The Trevor Project are posting the photo, claiming that it was taken last night at Niagara Falls.  With the photo showing up on Lance Bass' Twitter feed last night, the world has just assumed it to be true.  Some have even credited Bass with the photo.

Well, Lance Bass didn't take the photo.  Turns out, the photo isn't even from last night.  If any of these "journalists" would have done 30 seconds of research, they would have discovered that the photo was taken by Mykelle Nicole, in June of 2008.  You can see the original on Nicole's Flickr page.  It's one out of a series of pictures taken in Niagara Falls that night.  I recommend taking a look at her page.  She's quite talented.

Regardless of when the photo was taken, I think it is still a wonderful symbol for marriage equality in New York.  It just upsets me when people take something at face value, when the truth could have been discovered in one Google search in less than a minute.  Ugh.

New York Starts Marriages Of Same-Sex Couples

At the stroke of midnight, gay, lesbian and bisexual couples in New York started making their legal, lifelong commitment to each other.  What a historic day to witness.

Kitty Lambert, 54, and Cheryle Rudd, 53, became the first couple to be married at Niagara Falls as the clock struck 12.  At 9:02AM, Phyllis Siegel, 76, and Connie Kopelov, 84, became the first same-sex couple to be married in Manhattan.  Siegal, who has been with her partner for 23 years, later said,

‘‘It was just so amazing.  It’s the only way I can describe it. I lost my breath and a few tears.’’

23 years!  I cannot imagine being with my wife for the last 23 years, and only being able to legally get married to her today.  Unbelievable.  Siegel and Kopelov are one of the 823 couples scheduled to be married today, just in New York City.  The following video was shot by the Associated Press.  It shows dozens of couples in line to exchange their nuptials.  It also shows a number of people from Westboro Baptist Church trying to spoil the party.  As of the moment, they seem to have been largely ignored by marriage supporters.  One suggestion:  I wouldn't watch the following video on Youtube, unless you're prepared to read a large number of disgusting and hateful comments.



New Yorkers have fought hard for this.  It's only fitting that marriage equality finally comes to the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement.  My favorite gay couple can get married now, after over 40 years of being together.

All joking aside, congratulations, New York.

The United States, As Seen By A New Yorker

"Empty Space Caused By Stupid Shape of Idaho"...LOL.