Black Same-Sex (Trans) Couple Gets Married in NY

According to TowleRoad, a couple with names Hakim (Kimah) Nelson and Jason Stenson were issued a marriage licence and married by a city clerk in New York City on May 26. Of course, the journalist-challenged New York Post is on the case:

After The Post's inquiries, the city's marriage bureau stopped two more people with male names from marrying Friday, requesting birth certificates.

Stenson, who has two children by his former domestic partner, does not consider himself gay. He sees his new spouse as a woman.

Experts say the marriage is not legal.

"Gay marriage is not lawful here in New York, so they're technically not married," said matrimonial attorney Raoul Felder.

Evan Wolfson, head of Freedom to Marry, a local advocacy group devoted to legalizing gay marriage, saw the Stenson/Nelson example as "one more illustration of why the New York Senate needs to move quickly to pass the marriage bill and end this discrimination in New York."

The "newlyweds," meanwhile, have already run into trouble. They took their new license to the Adult Family Intake Center in Manhattan hoping to qualify for couples' housing. But Nelson's name immediately drew suspicion.

"Are you a man or a woman?" the intake officer demanded.

"I'm a transsexual," he lied.

For now, the pair is living as a married couple in a Brooklyn shelter.

"People in Albany can say, 'Look, it's already happened, so let's just make it legal,' " Stenson said. "We're all human beings. What makes me and my wife different?"

What do YOU think? Will this help or hurt the fight to get marriage for same-sex couples legalized in New York?