Metro

NY legalizes gay marriage

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Robb Penders, left, and his partner Jason Ganns of Albany, who plan to marry in September, wait late into the night for Senate members to vote on the same-sex marriage bill. Senators said "I do" on Friday, June 24, 2011 in a narrow 33-29 vote.

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Supporters cheer the passage of the gay-marriage bill as they look on from the Senate gallery at the Capitol in Albany.

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People watch from a window in the Senate chamber. The law makes New York the sixth and largest state to allow same-sex couples to wed.

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Gov. Cuomo, center, hands pens to legislators after signing the same-sex marriage bill into law shortly before midnight on June 24, 2011 at the Capitol in Albany. Behind Cuomo, from left, are Assemblyman Matthew Titone, Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell, Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, Sen. Thomas Duane and Sen. James Alesi.

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Governor Cuomo speaks following the passage of the bill. "I'm very proud of New York and the statement it's making to the nation today," he told lawmakers in an unusual post-vote speech on the Senate floor.

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Sen. Thomas Duane, D-Manhattan, left, and Gov. Cuomo talk in the Senate chamber after gay marriage was legalized.

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Gay marriage opponent Pastor Bill Mayhew of the Faith Bibble Church in Millerton, N.Y., speaks against supporters of the gay-marriage bill at the Capitol.

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Opponents of same sex-marriage pray in Albany after Senate members voted to make gay nuptials legal.

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Celebrants at Greenwich Village's famed Stonewall Inn -- considered the birthplace of the gay-rights movement -- salute last night's passage of the same-sex marriage bill.

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More cheering inside of Stonewall.

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...and outside Stonewall

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People dance in the streets in Greenwich Village to celebrate the legalization of gay marriage in New York.

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Pablo Bolon waves a rainbow flag in the West Village.

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A couple follows the New York Senate sessions via Twitter.

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Two men celebrate after the vote.

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Sara Baumann (L) and Shea Leibfreid (R) kiss in celebration of same-sex marriage becoming legal in New York. Gay couples will be able to wed in the Empire State starting July 24.

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A lesbian couple celebrates inside of the Stonewall Inn after the State Senate passed the gay-marriage bill.

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People gather outside of Stonewall.

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A gay couple celebrates inside of Stonewall.

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People celebrate outside of Stonewall while waiting for the Senate to vote.

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A lesbian couple celebrates inside of Stonewall.

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More people celebrating New York's legalization of gay marriage in front of the Stonewall Inn.

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One of the men depicted in this 1986 Post cover marks another milestone in gay rights.