Marriage Equality Backers Turned Away by City

This morning outside the city's Manhattan Marriage Bureau -- which was recently refurbished to draw tourist trade -- more than a hundred protesters expressed their displeasure with the absence of a marriage equality law in New York. Same-sex marriage gets much lip service from Democrats in Albany, but this week majority leader Malcolm Smith said that he didn't have the votes to pass it -- probably because that was a condition of dissident state senate Dem Ruben Diaz' cooperation with Smith's leadership. Protesters attempted to apply to get married, knowing they would be rebuffed if both parties were of the same gender. Similar protests are being held in other cities, and sympathizers are encouraged to sign a Valentine's Day card to the "heroes" of the marriage equality movement.