Nutter Declines To Marry Same-Sex Couples Until Pa. Law is Resolved
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Mayor Michael Nutter is offering a polite "no thanks" to a local gay couple who asked him to officiate at their same-sex wedding.
The two men from center city Philadelphia had asked the mayor to officiate at their wedding after obtaining a marriage license in Montgomery County, where an official began issuing licenses to same-sex couples in July (see related story).
Nutter supports gay marriage but his spokesman, Mark McDonald, says the mayor will not officiate while the legality of the state marriage law is still unclear.
"It's fair to say that the mayor would very much like to marry any couple that can properly and legally do so," McDonald said. "And he looks forward to the day when he'd be able to accommodate this couple."
The ACLU is currently challenging the 1996 Pennsylvania marriage law, which states that marriage is the union of one man and one woman (see related story). Nutter supports the ACLU's effort.
