City Council Speaker Christine Quinn Marries Kim Catullo In Private Ceremony
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - From the beginning, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's wedding plans were played out on a very public stage -- last year she interrupted a news conference to announce the passage of same-sex marriage legislation, and said it would make her own nuptials possible.
But the celebration itself was mostly private. The media wasn't invited on Saturday when Quinn -- the city's first openly gay council speaker -- married her longtime partner, Kim Catullo. But 1010 WINS reporter Gary Baumgarten was able to speak with residents in Chelsea who came out to support the happy couple.
1010 WINS reporter Gary Baumgarten was in Chelsea...
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In the days leading up to the ceremony, City Hall has been a backdrop for a flurry of wedding preparations. Earlier this week, Quinn's father interrupted a news conference to hand her a bag containing a hair comb. A question-and-answer session with reporters was dominated by queries about the couple's plans.
Quinn acknowledged that, with four days to go until the ceremony, there was at least one important detail that she still had to take care of.
"I have not yet written my vows," she said. "But I have stressed over them a great deal. Kim has, she's way ahead of me on this.''
Both women lost their mothers to cancer when they were teenagers, and they have established a women's cancer research fund in their honor in advance of the ceremony. Bloomberg, a billionaire who lobbied for the marriage legalization along with Quinn, has said that he will make a donation.
The wedding came 10 days after President Barack Obama voiced his support for same-sex marriage. After his announcement, Quinn -- who is expected to run to replace Bloomberg next year and currently leads the pack of presumptive candidates in fundraising -- said that it made her feel that the president himself would be walking her down the aisle.
"It makes you stand a little taller," she said. "It makes you carry your head a little higher. It makes you feel better about who you are."
Last June, tears welled in Quinn's eyes as she described how New York's same-sex marriage law would change things for her and Catullo.
"I was never sure this bill would pass,'' she said. "Even this morning as I stood in my apartment getting ready, I was so nervous, because I had begun to plan the wedding in my mind. And I thought, `What if it doesn't happen again?' The disappointment will be so tremendous.
"It's hard to describe the feeling of having the law of your state changed to say what you know in your heart is true, that you are a full member of the state, and that your family is as good as any other family,'' she concluded.
How big of a step is this for same-sex marriage legislation moving forward? Offer your thoughts and comments below...
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