Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Wrongly citing New York law, NBC’s Today rejects same-sex couples from wedding contest

by Karl Frisch

Once again, NBC is holding a wedding contest in which the winning couple will be awarded a wedding aired live on the network's highly-rated Today morning show and an all-expense paid honeymoon.

Unfortunately, Today's "Modern Day Wedding Contest" isn't open to same-sex couples.

In a statement from NBC given to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the network said:

For the TODAY show wedding, the couple must be able to be legally married in New York, which is where the wedding will take place.

But, as GLAAD noted in response:

This is not a valid argument since New York State legally recognizes same-sex marriages licensed in other states. Same-sex couples can now legally obtain marriage licenses in Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Washington D.C. NBC is mistakenly equating the marriage license with the wedding celebration. Same-sex weddings are entirely legal in New York State.  As long as the marriage license is conferred upon the same-sex couple by another state, New York State recognizes the marriage as a fully valid and legal one. NBC's exclusion of same-sex couples from its contest is not motivated by the law, but bias against these couples.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201007060026

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